Imbibe, an industry-leading food and beverage development company and ingredient supplier, announced plans for expanding its operations into an adjacent building in Niles, Ill. In late February, the food and beverage experts officially broke ground on the gut renovation of a the 17,000sq-ft space that will enable it to reconfigure and better use its existing property, which currently houses more than 110 Imbibe employees. This latest move comes during a period of notable growth for the company.
Since moving into its headquarters in 2014, Imbibe has added on several new capabilities to its portfolio. This includes its latest efforts to serve the frozen dessert market, the no and low alcohol and segments, and other sweet food categories that can benefit from sweetness modification, maskers, and other taste modulation tools. Based on the traction Imbibe’s ingredients-only service - Ingredients by Imbibe - has seen since the April 2021 launch, the company is also expanding its infrastructure to manage flavor and ingredient sample requests more efficiently, which will be heavily supported by the Product Development, Taste Modulation, and Flavor teams.
“Imbibe has continued on a pace of rapid growth both in our business and in our headcount. As a company, we've always invested ahead to ensure that we're able to deliver on our unique value proposition,” said Andy Dratt, Imbibe chief commercial officer. “We needed to be able to better leverage the infrastructure that we have and allow for continued growth”.
Will Lennon, Imbibe chief operating officer added that “Being a technically-driven organization, our business is fueled by in-person working, and this expansion allows us to provide more room for our growing team in a cutting-edge environment that people want to spend time in.”
Construction on the building is set to conclude and be ready for move-in later this summer. Included in the Fall 2022 reveal will be a state-of-the-art sensory and consumer insights center, a creative suite with a video and podcasting studio, open, light-filled offices, an employee fitness center, and an indoor/outdoor workspace that connects the two buildings as a true campus headquarters. The new space also enhances our customer experience, with a dedicated collaborative development studio. As a team constantly pushing the envelope as far as concept ideation and creation, ingredient design, and more, Imbibe is excited about the enhancements to its organization that will propel it into 2023 and beyond.
