Unilever opens drinks centre of excellence
Unilever, the world’s biggest tea company, has opened its global R&D Centre for drinks at Colworth Science Park in the UK.
This technology centre will focus on developing products for all Unilever’s brands such as Lipton, PG Tips, Flora and Slim-Fast.
The centre employs 90 scientists and specialists from 15 countries and brings together all Unilever’s beverages experts in one place. Using some of the £50 million budget that Unilever dedicates to R&D in drinks annually, the key task will be to make sure the drinks are convenient and affordable – from weight management teas to cholesterol lowering milk drinks and yoghurts. To develop these products the centre will aim to focus on bringing out the natural taste and health benefits from plants such as tea, fruits, vegetables and soy.
The centre will build on the technical ability of Unilever in tea manufacturing technology, in drinks ingredients technology and in drinks packaging. Developments from Unilever include the pyramid tea bag, tea with weight management benefits, and natural leaf tea that brews in cold water. Other drinks innovations based on these R&D capabilities include Flora cholesterol lowering yoghurt drinks and Knorr Vie fruit and vegetable mini-drinks.
