Corbion held a groundbreaking ceremony June 21 for a planned 58,000-square-foot facility in Lenexa, a Kansas City suburb, that will expand laboratory capabilities and allow the company to consolidate its North American regional headquarters into one building.

Corbion will allocate 15,000 square feet of the facility to laboratories, including bakery research and applications laboratories as well as a meat laboratory. Corbion scientists, marketers and application experts will work with customers in developing product concepts.

“When it comes to collaborative partnerships, we work very closely together with our customers so that innovation occurs in response to challenges around food safety, health and nutrition, extended shelf life, clean label, and affordable food,” said Andy Muller, executive vice-president of Biobased Ingredients for Corbion.

The facility, which may accommodate up to 200 employees, will be at 83rd Terrace and Flint Street in the Pine Ridge West Business Park being developed by Block Real Estate Services, L.L.C.

Corbion currently operates its North American headquarters out of two offices in Lenexa. Workers in those two offices will move into the new facility. The move, which Corbion expects to happen in August 2018, should reduce operating costs.

“We are so excited on now getting a chance to redesign our offices,” said Tjerk de Ruiter, chief executive officer of Corbion. “It’s a great opportunity to create an environment wher everything is modern and safe and enjoyable to work in, (and) it will also stimulate partnership and stimulate innovation.”

Corbion, with global headquarters in The Netherlands, has two lines of business: Biobased Ingredients and Biobased Innovations. The Biobased Ingredients business focuses on ingredients for food and biochemicals.