Wixon, Inc. (St. Francis, WI) broke ground Monday, March 17 for a 4,200-sq-ft culinary center to create, test and demonstrate food specialties and to develop new meat products. Construction on the new facility, formally named the Wixon Innovation Center for Culinary & Protein, is scheduled to be completed by September. The $2 million addition will further Wixon’s food research and development capabilities for itself and its customers. Additionally, it will also provide a demonstration area for Wixon to showcase products it creates for visiting customers.
The protein development section of the new center will be lead by Ron Ratz, director of protein development, who has more than 16 years of experience in the meat industry. In conjunction with the coming of the new center, Wixon hired Judson McLester as corporate chef. McLester will be in charge of much of the product testing, evaluating and product formulations.
Of the new center, Wixon president Peter Gottsacker said “[the center] is more than just an extension of our facilities. It represents a blending of innovation, our passion for service and another major step forward for our company to do the important research and testing for our customers that can save them countless hours of time as well as tremendous expense.”
