Meet AFI Labs: Turning Big Food Ideas Into Market-Ready Products
What if your next great food or beverage idea could go from concept to commercialization faster?
That’s the idea behind AFI Labs, the new research, development, and commercialization center from Alamance Foods.
Built to help foodservice operators, consumer packaged goods companies, retailers, convenience retailers, and restaurant brands bring innovative products to market, AFI Labs brings food and beverage product development, culinary innovation, pilot-scale manufacturing, and commercialization support together under one roof.
Because a great idea is only the beginning. The real magic happens when you can turn that idea into a product that works, tastes great, can be manufactured at scale, and is ready for the market.
From “What If?” to “What’s Next?”
Food innovation moves fast. Consumer preferences change. New flavors and formats emerge. And brands are constantly looking for ways to stand out.
AFI Labs was created to help customers keep up.
Rather than following a traditional product development model, AFI Labs gives customers access to a collaborative team of experts across research and development, process engineering, commercialization, packaging, culinary development, and food manufacturing.
That means ideas can be explored, tested, refined, and prepared for commercial production in a connected environment.
The goal? Less time between the first idea and a market-ready product.
A Collaborative Approach to Food Product Development
Great products rarely come from one person or one department. They come from bringing the right expertise together at the right time.
AFI Labs supports the full product development journey, from early ideation and consumer trend exploration through formulation, testing, pilot production, and commercial scale-up.
Customers can work directly with Alamance Foods experts to:
- Explore new food and beverage concepts
- Develop and optimize product formulations
- Rapidly prototype new ideas
- Evaluate product performance
- Validate manufacturing processes
- Conduct sensory testing and competitive benchmarking
- Test products through pilot-scale manufacturing
- Prepare products for commercial production and scale-up
By integrating commercialization planning early in the process, AFI Labs helps bridge the gap between product development and food manufacturing.
That connection matters. A product can look great on the bench, but what happens when it needs to be produced consistently and efficiently at commercial scale?
AFI Labs is designed to answer that question early.
Expertise Across Growing Food & Beverage Categories
AFI Labs specializes in several food and beverage categories where innovation, convenience, and differentiation continue to create new opportunities.
These include:
- Dairy and dairy alternative aerosol whipped toppings
- Dairy and dairy alternative aerosol cold foams
- Ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage applications
- Freezer pops
- Drinkable yogurt
The facility also supports product development for foodservice, convenience retail, quick-service restaurants, consumer packaged goods, and private label programs.
Whether you’re developing something entirely new or looking to make an existing product better, the goal is the same: create food and beverage products that deliver for both consumers and the businesses bringing them to market.
More Than a Lab
AFI Labs isn’t simply a place to test a formula.
It’s designed to help customers understand how a product will perform in the real world.
The facility combines laboratory, culinary, and pilot plant resources that allow teams to evaluate products under authentic operating conditions. Capabilities include bench-scale product development, pilot-scale processing equipment, product performance evaluation, manufacturing validation, scale-up support, sensory testing, and competitive benchmarking.
AFI Labs also includes specialized resources for customer-specific applications, including:
- Coffee, café, and beverage equipment
- Small commercial bakery equipment
- Modular, plug-and-play kitchens
- Customer equipment and operational workflow integration
That hands-on approach allows customers to test more than just how a product tastes. They can explore how it performs, how it is prepared, and how it can ultimately fit into a commercial operation.
From Prototype to Commercial Production
One of the biggest challenges in food product development is moving from a promising prototype to something that can actually be manufactured at scale.
AFI Labs helps make that transition part of the process from the beginning.
The development journey can include:
1. Explore
Start with consumer trends, market opportunities, and big ideas.
2. Develop
Turn concepts into formulas and product prototypes.
3. Test
Evaluate performance, taste, functionality, and consumer-facing applications.
4. Validate
Use pilot-scale manufacturing and analytical testing to understand how the product will perform beyond the lab.
5. Scale
Prepare the product and manufacturing process for commercial production.
By connecting product development directly to Alamance Foods’ manufacturing expertise, AFI Labs gives customers a development partner that understands what it takes to get a product all the way to the finish line.
Innovation That’s Built Around You
No two product development projects are exactly alike.
That’s why AFI Labs offers customized innovation services designed around each customer’s goals. Engagements can include innovation workshops, consumer and market trend exploration, rapid prototyping, customized formula development, technical troubleshooting, product optimization, and long-term co-development partnerships.
Sometimes the goal is to create an entirely new product platform.
Sometimes it’s making an existing product better.
And sometimes it starts with a simple question:
“What if?”
AFI Labs is built to help answer it.
Big Ideas. Real-World Expertise.
With AFI Labs, Alamance Foods is bringing together the people, equipment, food science, culinary expertise, and manufacturing knowledge needed to move food and beverage innovation forward.
For foodservice operators, retailers, consumer packaged goods companies, restaurant brands, and private label partners, that means having a collaborative food product development and commercialization partner that can help take an idea from the first prototype all the way through commercial production.
Because the best ideas deserve more than a spot on a whiteboard.
They deserve a chance to make it to the shelf, the menu, the cooler, the freezer, and ultimately into the hands of the people who will enjoy them.
Ready to see what’s possible?
Bring us your big idea. Let’s make something delicious.
Learn more about AFI Labs or connect with the Alamance Foods Commercialization Team to schedule an innovation workshop.