Hain Celestial Unveils New Innovation Center at Hoboken, New Jersey, Headquarters

Dec. 20, 2024

The 2,200-sq.-ft. Innovation Experience Center is expected to usher in “a new era of innovation” for the better-for-you foods company.

Andy Hanacek

The Hain Celestial Group Inc. unveiled its new Innovation Experience Center (IEC) at its headquarters in Hoboken, N.J., which it expects will usher in “a new era of innovation” for the company.

Hain’s IEC comprises a 2,200-sq.-ft. working kitchen, where customers, partners and Hain employees will collaborate on cross-functional product development, ingredient testing, quality reviews, category assessments, and evaluation of the functionality and sustainability of product packaging. Two distinct areas have been designed into the IEC, the company said. The first is for hands-on product development by the technical team, and the second will offer Hain customers and partners the full sensory experience on display during the event.

The grand opening event featured the standard ribbon-cutting ceremony with Hain leadership, the announcement noted, and attendees were able to experience some of Hain’s work by visiting six sensory-focused product demonstrations throughout the facility. Brands included Garden Veggie snacks, Earth’s Best baby/kids foods, Celestial Seasonings tea, Natumi plant-based non-dairy beverages and Spectrum meal-preparation oils all participated, along with Hain’s Avalon Organics personal care brand.

“Earlier this year we redesigned our innovation process to strengthen our pipeline across our leading brands and categories,” Wendy Davidson, president & CEO of Hain Celestial, said in the release. “This center further enables us to transform bold ideas into distinctive products and underscores our dedication to leading in our categories, challenging the status quo and delivering exceptional value to our customers.”

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.