New Center of Excellence for Innovations in Food is opened

09.07.2026

“The new FoodHub Nordic is a unique Center of Excellence, providing specialists in food trends and the production of bakery and protein products, as well as experts in packaging development – everything under one roof. Our customers can therefore shorten the time required for market launches, and also present innovative food products to consumers, without having to adversely affect their actual production lines, by carrying out product development work on these lines,” said Martin Petersen, Managing Director of MULTIVAC Denmark.

Dr Tobias Richter, Group President (CSO) of the MULTIVAC Group added: “This site is of great strategic significance for the MULTIVAC Group. Firstly, because the Nordic region has a pioneering role in many areas – particularly when it comes to sustainability and new food concepts. And secondly, because here we are creating a focal Center of Excellence for the entire Nordic region. The new FoodHub will support our subsidiaries in developing new solutions jointly with their customers, and then bringing these to market more quickly.“

Developments in the food market

Market trends in the food sector are developing more quickly than ever before. The requirements of consumers and customers are constantly changing, and product categories are also merging continually, so that the pressure to bring new products onto the market has never been as great as it is today. All this requires numerous prototypes and tests, whether in the form of samples or products, which are inevitably associated with downtime, if they are produced on running production lines. This means that Sales, Marketing, Product Development and Production have to work together very closely at an early stage. By establishing the FoodHub Nordic, MULTIVAC Denmark has therefore created a place, where the food industry can convene, in order to develop and test product innovations under real production conditions.

The Center of Excellence comprises six specialised laboratories, which cover the entire development process – from the first idea through to the prototype of the product and right up to its packaging. This provides an integrated development environment, in which new product ideas can be developed under real process conditions and in small production series.

The TrendLAB is where food trends and consumer perceptions are identified, as well as determining the requirements of the food sector and the relevant market developments. The ConceptLAB converts the trends and consumer perceptions into concrete product concepts, which meet the needs of customers and consumers, as well as promoting the growth of the particular food category. The BakeryLAB is where concepts for bread, biscuits or cakes are developed and tested under real production conditions. In the ProteinLAB it is possible to develop products made of meat, poultry, fish and plant-based alternatives right up to their final stage of production, as well as testing them under actual conditions. In the PackagingLAB the focus is on packaging development, the reduction in packaging materials and the optimisation of pack designs, as well as conducting pilot productions on a larger scale. And last but not least, practical training courses in the TrainingLAB reinforce the expertise of teams in all aspects of machines, processes and packaging.

With its unique atmosphere and state-of-the-art meeting rooms, the FoodHub Nordic is ideally suited to different types of events – from sales and marketing meetings or discussions with customer, right up to team building exercises, conferences and product development courses.