Research & Development

leading edge

When people hear phrases like “product development” or “R&D,” sterile laboratories filled with white coats and test tubes naturally come to mind. But that’s only one part of what R&D means to us. At Associated Brands, research and development begins and ends with the customer: Ideas are sparked by products, experiences, or suggestions, driving the development process to produce products that deliver great value and exceed customer expectations.

Facilities and Expertise

With two fully equipped R&D facilities — one in Toronto, Ontario, and the other in Medina, New York — our product development teams are uniquely positioned both to work collaboratively with customers and to provide turnkey product development solutions. Our people are experts in formula development, with an intimate knowledge of how specific formulas incorporate into processing parameters and manufacturing facilities.

Relationships and Technology

Our strong relationships with suppliers ensure our ability to use the same ingredients as national brands — or find better alternatives — and adopt leading technologies like the addition of functional ingredients (such as vitamins, antioxidants, and probiotics) to any and every product.

Evaluation and Validation

We employ internal and external expert taste panels to ensure that our products match or are superior to national brands, and we contract with third-party national laboratories to conduct scientific analysis to confirm that active ingredients and nutritional levels achieve prescribed customer targets. And we conduct extensive consumer testing with thousands of real-world consumers to make absolutely sure that real people prefer our products to national brands.

Soup to Nuts

To make sure every product ships to customers exactly as intended and designed, our product development teams see every project through — from inception to the commercialization phase — on time and on budget. In other words, you can count on us to serve as your extended product development group.

To find out more about our research and development process, please contact us.