Alamance Foods Launches AFI Labs

Alamance Foods announced the launch of AFI Labs on August 31, 2026. The new center is designed to help restaurant brands and other foodservice operators bring innovative food and beverage products to market faster, according to a company announcement.

AFI Labs combines scientific expertise, pilot-scale manufacturing, and culinary innovation into a single collaborative environment. The goal is to allow customers to rapidly develop, validate, and scale new solutions.

A Collaborative Development Model

Eric Nakata, Corporate Chef at Alamance Foods, explained the rationale. “As consumer preferences evolve faster than ever, companies need innovation partners that can move from idea to commercialization with speed, flexibility, and technical confidence,” he said. The facility offers a customer-centric approach, supporting every phase from early ideation to commercial production.

Instead of a traditional development model, customers work directly with cross-functional experts. This collaborative model is intended to allow for rapid concept evaluation, formulation optimization, and manufacturing validation.

Specialized Categories and Capabilities

The lab specializes in several high-growth food and beverage categories. These include dairy and dairy alternative aerosol whipped toppings and cold foams, ready-to-drink beverage applications, freezer pops, and drinkable yogurt. The facility supports development for foodservice, quick-service restaurants, and private label programs.

To reduce risk and accelerate timelines, AFI Labs follows a structured innovation process. This process includes stages for trend exploration, concept development, rapid prototyping, validation testing, pilot-scale trials, and finally, commercial scale-up support.

Real-World Testing Environments

The physical facility includes laboratory, culinary, and pilot plant resources designed to replicate real-world customer environments. This enables testing under authentic operating conditions before a full commercial launch.

Key capabilities available to customers include:

• Bench-scale product development
• Pilot-scale processing equipment
• Product performance evaluation
• Manufacturing validation and scale-up
• Sensory testing and competitive benchmarking
• Culinary-inspired product applications

Notably, the lab also features coffee and beverage equipment for customer-specific execution, small commercial bakery equipment, and modular plug-and-play kitchens. These kitchens can accommodate a customer's own equipment and workflows.

Tailored Development Services

AFI Labs provides a range of collaborative services to meet different customer needs. These services include innovation workshops, market trend exploration, rapid prototyping, and customized formula development. The center also offers technical troubleshooting, product optimization, and long-term co-development partnerships.

Each engagement is tailored to individual customer objectives. This could involve developing entirely new product platforms or simply enhancing existing items. With direct access to Alamance Foods’ manufacturing expertise, the lab aims to be a strategic partner for transforming concepts into scalable, market-ready products for the restaurant industry.