May 9/Northbrook, Ill./Press Release -- Bell Flavors & Fragrances opened a state of the art innovation center in their Guadalajara, Mexico, operation which services the Mexican and Central American market. The facility, Centro Innovación Bell (CIB), will bring the next level of innovation in Flavors & Fragrances to these markets.  The CIB facility is a 900 sq. meter center that utilizes both sustainable “green” building technologies and LEED rated systems.

The CIB facility, will serve as a hub of new product creation, customer collaboration, and direct consumer testing for Bell´s customers in the Mexican market and other parts of Latin America. 

The facility is equipped as a culinary center with three test kitchens focused on developing and tailoring Bell´s sweet, beverage, and savory flavors for distinct, locally relevant taste preferences.  The CIB was also designed with two creation labs for flavors that will focus on the next level of olfactory molecule creation.  

The CIB facility also has two state of the art fragrance laboratories that offer capabilities in creation and application testing for fragrances in three key categories personal care, household care, and cosmetic consumer products.   These laboratories are accompanied with a consumer product sensory laboratory that will enable Bell to test new flavors and fragrances directly with our customers in preference and sensory driven testing. 

"Creativity and Innovation are two ingredients that have driven Bell´s growth over the last 100 years.  Investing further into Mexico and with our key partners is critical to our company’s success.  This CIB facility will allow us to focus as a company on these critical objectives. ¨ said James Heinz, president & CEO, Bell. 

"This is a very exciting opportunity for our company here in Mexico; we believe very much in the Mexican market and our key partners in Mexico, and this investment reassures them we are investing in the future.¨ said Michael Natale, General Manager, Bell Mexico.  

The CIB facility was designed by Pimential Architects with a minimalist and clean design.  The design focused on natural elements like natural light, clean fresh air, green space, and minimal use of energy. 

At the center of the CIB is a garden with a "Green Wall."  The Green Wall is a feng shui approach to bring as much peace to the center of the structure.  This Green Wall with over 500 plants living on it will purify up to 80 sq. meters of air a day, cool the building, and bring natural beauty into the Innovation center. 

"The CIB also has over 20 sun roof domes and many exterior windows bringing as much natural light into the facility allowing for the space to operate with little to no artificial light.¨, stated Juan Carlos Pimential, owner of Pimential Architects. 

The colors, functional design of the lab work spaces, and lay out have all been constructed to give Bell´s creation team, the 21st century approach to innovation.