Thai Union has opened an innovation hub facility in Wageningen, the Netherlands, further expanding the company’s investments in research and development.
Thai Union said the hub will focus on product and packaging developments for its ambient seafood brands. According to the company, around 40 product, process, and packaging developers, along with nutritionists, sensory, and consumer scientists will be working at or for the new facility and will collaborate with Thai Union’s Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Bangkok, Thailand.
“With the Innovation Hub here in the Netherlands, we are strengthening our global innovation capabilities,” Thai Union President and CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said. “Our GIC in Thailand focuses on fundamental research, especially on utilizing and valorizing our raw material. This work directly benefits our innovation hub in Wageningen, where we can quickly respond to the pulse of our markets through collaboration with our brands, our customers, and our consumers.”
Thai Union first invested in a pilot plant for research and development in 2016, dubbing that that Global Innovation Incubator, which later became the GIC. Since then, the company has continued to invest in innovation, either at its own facilities or through granting awards to companies for new products or packaging.
The new innovation hub will feature an array of capabilities, including a pilot plant with the capabilities of a full-scale Thai Union factory, an analytical lab for physical and chemical testing, a packaging lab for testing and prototyping new materials and functionality, a sensory lab to determine how consumers will perceive any new products or packaging innovation, and a user experience kitchen to evaluate how customers experience products.
The company said the new center will build on that and serve all of Thai Union’s shelf-stable seafood brands. Thai Union Senior Innovation Director of Ambient Seafood Patrick Tassignon said the company chose Wageningen for its proximity to resources in food science and nutrition.
“By partnering with Wageningen University and Research, start-ups, and other companies, we aim to embrace their knowledge and innovative spirit,” Tassignon said. “This environment will inspire us to create groundbreaking innovations, driving our ambition to become the world’s leading marine health and nutrition company.”
Thai Union has already developed products inside the innovation hub, including John West’s “ECOTWIST,” which packages a similar volume of tuna in a redesigned lighter can – reducing the resources it takes to create the packaging while also reducing food waste.
Chansiri said the innovation hub will work alongside the company’s “SeaChange 2030” sustainability initiative to differentiate Thai Union in the market and “revitalize our products in our markets.”
