Dignitaries from Ireland, as well as elected federal state and local officials came to northern Illinois to celebrate the formal opening of the corporate headquarters of Synergy Flavors Inc. Roderick W. Sowders, president and CEO, who officiated at the ceremony, explained the significance of the occasion, “This is an exciting milestone for Synergy, and we are pleased to be able to commemorate it with the board of directors of our parent company, Carbery Group, our employees and a group of distinguished guests. The investment in this facility today—in the Innovation Center, manufacturing and administration—is just a beginning. We’ve allowed for substantial expansion on the campus in coming years—expansion that will be needed to support our customers and our continued growth.”

Among those on hand to mark the occasion with Synergy employees and the Ireland-based board of directors of its parent company, Carbery Group were Frank A. Bart, mayor of Wauconda, and the Honorable Aidan Cronin, consul general for Ireland.

Taking a sustainable approach, Synergy used an existing building as the cornerstone of its new 15-acre campus. This building was modified and expanded into a 145,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art flavor development and manufacturing center. The repurposed site was designed and constructed to LEED certification standards, which are governed by the Green Building Institute. “Making sustainability a priority in our expansion was important to us as a company and fits with our industry-leading sustainability practices,” stated Sowders.

The Innovation Center is the company’s hub for creative activities. Here ideation, flavor and application development, sensory and analytical labs, a demonstration kitchen, and pilot plant facilities support customer product development. Paulette Lanzoff, technical director, commented, “The new open concept is much more conducive for collaboration between our flavorists and application specialists.  The space fosters creativity and provides the team a more progressive environment to communicate daily on projects, and importantly to interact with customers.”

On the manufacturing side, the Safe Quality Food (SQF) certified facility for dry blending, spray drying, liquid extractions and emulsions, substantially increased capacity. New proprietary processes for liquid manufacturing and new automation to improve liquid processing and packaging efficiencies were also added.