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Oct 21, 2021

Plant-Based Beverages: Rising Through the Ranks

If you’ve been inside a grocery store lately, you may have noticed the ever-expanding options on the shelves for milk alternative products. Everything from almond milk yogurt to coconut milk ice cream is becoming more popular and widely available. In fact, according to Future Market Insights (FMI) analysis, worldwide sales of non-dairy milk alternatives doubled between…

Sep 15, 2021

NCFIL + JWU Partnership: Patillo Featured in Spectrum and JWU Articles 

Chris Patillo, NC Food Innovation Lab (NCFIL) intern, was featured in “Johnson & Wales graduate helps create new plant-based foods” on Spectrum News North Carolina. His internship was also highlighted in “JWU Joins North Carolina Food Innovation Lab to Create New Food Concepts“ on Inside at JWU Charlotte, JWU’s official faculty and staff online newsletter. Opportunity for…

Sep 1, 2021

NCFIL Executive Director’s Perspective: September 2021

NCFIL Facility + Business Update The NC Food Innovation Lab is fully operational and quite busy. Our project portfolio is well-balanced, with projects covering many of our core technical disciplines. When we designed our facility three years ago this month, our strategy was to align our capabilities around core disciplines for both the Pilot Plant…

Aug 25, 2021

NCFIL Summer Intern: Chris Patillo

Chris Patillo is a recent graduate from Johnson and Wales University and one of the summer interns at NC Food Innovation Lab (NCFIL). While working toward his bachelor’s degree in Applied Food Science, Patillo says he “fell in love with the science behind culinary arts.” Plant-Based Passion When Patillo was in high school, meat was a main component of…

Aug 11, 2021

NCFIL Summer Intern: Emilize Momplaisir

“There hasn’t been a side of food science I haven’t liked yet,” says Emilize Momplaisir, one of the interns who joined the NC Food Innovation Lab (NCFIL) this summer.  With an interest in food’s role in human health and how it affects the body, Momplaisir was attracted to the science focus of NCFIL. After her college advisor…

Jul 29, 2021

Joe Hildebrand: Certified Culinary Scientist

From knife cuts to the molecular structure of your dinner, Joe Hildebrand knows it all.  As the Pilot Plant Manager at the NC Food Innovation Lab (NCFIL), Hildebrand manages the 3000 sq. ft. pilot plant and its equipment while implementing daily production, planning, and execution for the lab. He recently earned the title of Certified Culinary Scientist (CCS) from the Research Chefs…

Jul 19, 2021

NCFIL Executive Director Aimutis Elected IFT Fellow

NC State leaders as well as the other partners opening the NC Food Innovation Lab knew without a doubt they had landed a food science unicorn when Dr. Bill Aimutis accepted their offer to become the inaugural Executive Director of NCFIL.  And his recent election as an IFT Fellow just publicly acknowledges what we’ve all known all…

Jul 14, 2021

Food Entrepreneurship: Aimutis Featured on Farms, Food and You Podcast

NC Food Innovation Lab Executive Director Bill Aimutis spoke about North Carolina’s agricultural processing potential on an episode titled “Growing Food Entrepreneurship in NC” on NC State’s podcast Farms, Food and You hosted by Dee Shore.  North Carolina: Food and Nutrition Technology Hub North Carolina is third in agricultural diversity with 90 different crops; however, 80% of those crops are…
hydroponic lettuce

Jun 7, 2021

The Role of Agriculture + Food Processing in the Energy Economy

NCFIL Executive Director Dr. Bill Aimutis recently had the privilege to speak and participate on a panel for the E4 Carolinas Association. This trade group focuses on the Carolinas’ energy economy to provide members opportunities to increase their value and success. The conference theme was about energizing the post-pandemic economic recovery, and NCFIL’s focus was on Food and Ag Tech. The…

May 20, 2021

NCFIL Executive Director’s Perspective: April/May 2021

Good news! NCFIL is very nearly at 100% operational status. In April, we commissioned our GEA spray dryer, and we have been busy running piping and building a catwalk for the Bühler twin-screw extruder. Bühler personnel will be onsite May 10 – June 1 making last connections, initiating the equipment, and then conducting a shakedown to determine…