The companies will pitch live on Tuesday, Nov. 27 2018, the first day of the show, at the Industry Insights Theatre. The winners of the three categories will receive their awards following the live pitches.

AAK, known around the world for its co-development process, regularly hosts AAK Academy™ learning events, providing opportunities for knowledge sharing to inspire forward-thinking innovation in new product development. 

“Our new center is an area for creative inspiration designed to assist our customers with the proactive development of innovative ideas, flavors and products and help grow their success in an ever-changing and competitive market,” said Michael E. Crain, Senior Flavor Chemist, Comax Flavors. 

Barilla One-Ingredient Legume Pastas are made with chickpeas or red lentils. Barilla leveraged its more than 140 years of experience to create a pasta with a unique taste and "al dente" texture. 

Symrise aims to continue its growth in the US market for natural food ingredients and wants to successively expand the site in Georgia until 2020.

Rich’s has annual sales exceeding $3.8 billion and operates in more 100 locations globally. Its refrigerated and frozen products range from cakes and icings to pizza, appetizers and specialty toppings and it distributes to operator customers in foodservice, retail, and in-store bakery, deli and prepared foods.

Lay's Deep Dish Pizza Flavor is a taste of Chicago’s iconic stuffed deep-dish pizza inspired by Giordano's pizza recipe. Giordano’s is a Chicago pizza chain that started doing business in 1974.

This trend is most evident in PLMA’s 2018 Salute to Excellence Awards program, where more than 500 new store brands food and nonfood products were evaluated by panels of industry professionals and consumers. Judges selected 53 products, 38 food and 15 nonfood items, for Salute to Excellence Awards.

The Brenntag North America Food & Nutrition Application & Development Center in Allentown, Pa., has officially opened. Through this center, further support will be provided to customers in the United States and Canada who face food and nutrition formulation challenges with technical solutions and inventive ideas.