Key Highlights
- IMCD reopens a fully modernised Food & Nutrition application laboratory in Cologne.
- New Life Science Hub brings food, pharma, and beauty labs under one roof.
- This facility boosts cross-disciplinary innovation for the German food and beverage sector.
IMCD has officially reopened its fully modernised Food & Nutrition application laboratory in Cologne. It marks a significant investment in technical capability and customer collaboration for Germany’s Food & Beverage industry.
The upgraded facility forms part of a new life science hub, bringing together food & nutrition, pharmaceutical, and beauty & personal care laboratories under one roof for the first time.
The move is designed to strengthen interdisciplinary innovation and accelerate the development of market-ready solutions across multiple sectors.
Expanding Technical Support for Food and Beverage Manufacturers
The expanded Cologne facility significantly enhances IMCD’s ability to support manufacturers with recipe development, formulation optimisation, regulatory guidance, and troubleshooting. These capabilities are increasingly critical as brands respond to evolving consumer expectations around taste, texture, nutrition, and functional performance.
Daniel Kany, business unit manager food & nutrition at IMCD Germany, said the new hub represents a step change in customer collaboration. He noted that the Life Science Hub provides a best-in-class environment for application support, technical consulting, and regulatory expertise, intending to deliver innovative and commercially viable solutions.
Integrated Life Science Hub Enables Cross-category Innovation
By consolidating three specialist laboratories, IMCD is positioning itself as a more integrated partner for companies navigating complex formulation challenges across food, nutrition, health, and personal care. Shared infrastructure, including advanced equipment and a test kitchen, allows technical teams to collaborate more closely and respond faster to customer needs.
The Food & Nutrition Laboratory supports innovation across bakery, beverages, confectionery, dairy, edible oils and fats, fruits and vegetables, savoury applications, and nutrition-focused products. As part of IMCD’s global laboratory network, the Cologne site can draw on international expertise while tailoring solutions to the specific requirements of the German market.
Supporting Innovation at the Intersection of Food, Health, and Beauty
The Life Science Hub also houses IMCD’s long-established Pharmaceutical Technical Centre (PTC), which has supported drug and supplement formulation for more than a decade. Its expertise in excipients, flavour masking, dosage forms, and regulatory compliance is increasingly relevant as food and nutrition products continue to converge with health-focused applications.
Alongside this, the Beauty & Personal Care Laboratory provides formulation support for skincare, sun care, haircare, and cosmetics, offering prototype development, application testing, and trend-driven training.
Katja Wilmes, application technologist for food & nutrition, said the modern equipment and interdisciplinary setup allow IMCD to support demanding formulations more precisely, from enhancing taste and mouthfeel to extending shelf life and enriching products with nutrients.
As innovation pressures rise across the German Food & Beverage market, IMCD’s expanded Cologne Life Science Hub offers manufacturers a practical environment to co-create, refine, and accelerate product development.