San Antonio, Texas-headquartered C.H. Guenther & Son (CHG), a major supplier of value-added grain-based and frozen food products to foodservice clients and select consumer markets, has opened a Centre of Excellence at its flagship Coventry bakery in England. The dedicated innovation and collaboration hub is designed to accelerate the development of premium baked goods across the UK and Europe and support customers as they develop, test and refine new bakery products.
The purpose-built, 172-square-meter Centre of Excellence brings together a commercial-scale bakery, demonstration kitchen, sensory evaluation facilities, innovation suite and dedicated collaboration spaces in one specialized location. Designed to support and accelerate product development from concept through to commercial manufacturing, the facility enables customers to work on-site alongside CHG’s commercial, culinary, bakery and technical experts to create bespoke bakery innovations.
The opening of the Centre follows the tens of millions of pounds of investment by CHG and its partners into its UK manufacturing capabilities in recent years, including the opening of its £38 million Coventry bakery in 2023, which now produces roughly 72,000 buns per hour, and continued investment across the company’s three UK sites and established nationwide manufacturing network.
Alongside more premiumization, CHG’s customers are increasingly looking at ways to expand their offerings to include more free-from options and artisan-inspired cues, smaller portion sizes and protein-rich products to better cater to shifting consumer tastes. The Centre allows new concepts focused on these emerging demand trends to be developed in the innovation suite, demonstrated in the customer kitchen, evaluated through sensory testing and validated in the commercial-scale pilot bakery, before progressing to full-scale manufacture.
“Our new Centre of Excellence provides our customers partnership in innovation and developmental testing, ensuring ideas can move seamlessly from concept to commercial production, helping bring exciting new menu ideas to market more quickly, consistently and at scale,” said Paul Tripp, CHC’s European vice president and managing director. “This investment is part of our long-term strategy to strengthen our growing relationships with leading foodservice brands through innovation, operational excellence and continued investment in our UK and EU manufacturing.”
