BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Lactalis American Group opened a $2 million culinary & sensory institute in South Buffalo, marking a significant expansion of its local operations.
The new facility, located next to its South Buffalo factory on South Park Avenue, is designed to research, develop and test new food products.
This institute is part of a larger $111 million investment the French company has made to the South Buffalo facility since 2020.
"We invest here because we continue to believe in the teams and the people of this area," said Esteve Torrens, CEO of Lactalis USA.
"This is, for us, a big step to ensure the future quality of our products," Jean-Luc Bruandet, President and CEO of Lactalis American Group said. “We need to define where we do build the future, and clearly, Buffalo is in our plan, and this is the first way to demonstrate.”
The South Park Avenue plant employs about 700 workers, and Lactalis is actively hiring as it continues to grow.
As the first of its kind in the U.S. for Lactalis, the culinary & sensory institute is expected to play a key role in the company's growth and innovation efforts.
“For USA, for Canada, for Americas, for the group. There is some work that will be done here that will be used everywhere,” Lactalis Americas CEO Gilles Meziere said.
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