Kerry, a global leader in Taste & Nutrition, announces the opening of the Kerry Customer Co‑Creation Centre Medellín in Colombia. The new center was designed to deepen collaboration with customers and accelerate the development of innovative solutions across multiple food and beverage categories for the Andean region.

Located within Kerry’s facilities in Medellín, the Customer Co‑Creation Center reinforces the company’s customer‑centric approach by providing a dedicated environment for co‑creation—from concept ideation to development and practical application of solutions. The space will enable closer interaction with strategic partners, reducing the time between idea generation, testing, and prototyping. It also integrates with Customer Co‑creation Centers in Guatemala and Costa Rica, in addition to Technology Hubs in Mexico, Brazil, and the United States.

“This new center represents a strategic step in strengthening our closeness with customers in the region,” says Reynaldo Barros, General Manager of Kerry in Andina, the Caribbean, and Central America. “By combining local market knowledge, technical expertise, and Kerry’s global capabilities, we can develop more relevant, agile solutions aligned with consumer preferences, resulting in more nutritious and flavorful products.”

The center features dedicated local teams in Marketing and RD&A (Research, Development & Applications), expanding Kerry’s understanding of customer dynamics and market needs, while enabling faster and more effective responses in innovation and reformulation efforts to deliver even better products.

Applications

The space was also conceived to showcase Kerry technologies in real applications and develop flavors and sensory profiles tailored to regional tastes, focusing on categories such as beverages, meat products, dairy, bakery, and snacks.

The Customer Co‑Creation Centre includes specialized laboratories for Beverages, Meat Products, Snacks, Bakery & Confectionery, flavor development, as well as analytical labs and sensory panels. It also features an integrated Customer Suite with an experimental kitchen and areas for barista and mixology development, along with administrative and technical spaces. This infrastructure provides greater operational agility, quicker decision‑making, and closer collaboration with the local partner ecosystem.

Kerry’s presence in Colombia

Kerry began its journey in Colombia more than 30 years ago as part of its expansion strategy in Latin America, exporting food and beverage technologies from Europe, the United States, and Mexico, while reinforcing its commitment to innovation, sustainability, and customer proximity. Founded in Ireland as a dairy cooperative, the company has evolved over more than 50 years into a global reference in food and beverage solutions, with a presence in over 50 countries, 124 production plants, and more than 70 technology and innovation centers.

Over the past 5 years, through global acquisitions with operations in Colombia, most recently in 2023, Kerry acquired Colombian company Proexcar S.A.S., specialized in functional proteins for meat product development, advancing Kerry’s growth strategy in the Andean region.

Today, the company collaborates with leading food and beverage companies in these markets, offering solutions that combine local taste adaptation with global innovation. The opening of the Customer Co‑Creation Centre Medellín reinforces this strategy by creating a space dedicated to direct customer collaboration and accelerating the development of customized food and beverage solutions.

Sustainable Nutrition

Across the Andean region, Kerry operates in alignment with its global sustainable nutrition vision, investing in technologies that improve nutritional profiles, such as sugar and sodium reduction, support waste reduction, and enable clean‑label practices aligned with consumer trends and local regulations.

Kerry believes that the way the world produces, consumes, and discards food must be transformed to become more sustainable for both the planet and people. As a global leader in the food industry, the company plays a key role in the transformation necessary to address global food‑system challenges.

Through insights, innovation, and technology, Kerry co‑creates with its customers positive and balanced nutrition solutions that help maintain people’s health while reducing the environmental impact of food production. The company aims to reach two billion people with sustainable nutrition solutions by 2030, generating a positive impact on both people and the planet.