DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. — Flavorchem announced the opening of the SRS Center for Taste Innovation at its campus in Downers Grove.

The 25,000-square-foot facility is named after the late Salvatore R. Sprovieri, who founded the company in 1971 with his brother Phil Sprovieri. It was designed to deliver a boutique customer experience that encourages innovation, collaboration and experimentation with trending foods, beverages, flavors and ingredients, the company said.

The Center for Taste Innovation features an open marketplace environment equipped with snack stations and a coffee bar, modeled after trendy food halls in urban centers. It also boasts an R&D kitchen, four specialized application centers, a dedicated pilot plant with processing and filling capabilities, a sensory room for blind and controlled testing and three guest suites that include workstations, mini bars and more.

“Our goal was to create a space that would be a destination for clients,” said Ross Sprovieri, executive vice president of Flavorchem. “Customer experience was the focus of this project. We want our customers to be part of the product development process.”