Located at Nestlé's R&D center in Konolfingen, Switzerland, the R&D Accelerator provides a platform for start-ups, students and scientists to leverage Nestlé's dairy and plant protein background to bring products from ideation to commercialization.
Nestlé R&D Konolfingen is the company's largest research and development center for dairy products and plant-based dairy alternatives. The R&D center develops new product concepts for Nestlé’s dairy and infant nutrition businesses before they are introduced to consumers around the world.
At the inauguration, Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO, said, "Innovation in milk products and plant-based dairy alternatives is core to Nestlé's portfolio strategy, as well as our sustainability agenda. As a company, we have set ambitious climate goals. This is part of our promise to develop products that are good for you and good for the planet."
The R&D Accelerator in Konolfingen features a test kitchen and a co-working office space. Internal, external and mixed teams will leverage Nestlé's capabilities to bring novel ideas from concept to test shop in only six months.
Thomas Hauser, head of global product and technology development at Nestlé, said, "Our goal is to provide start-ups, students and Nestlé scientists with key resources to quickly explore new ideas through a six-month test and learn approach. By tapping into our expertise in food science, food safety, regulatory, manufacturing processes, and packaging, they can rapidly upscale and test new products in real market conditions."
The R&D Accelerator in Konolfingen is part of Nestlé's global R&D Accelerator initiative which was first launched at Nestlé Research in Lausanne, Switzerland.