COMMERCE, CALIF. — International food and beverage supplier Kerry opened a West Coast Customer Engagement Center in Commerce, Calif.

The company said its customer engagement space will act as a co-creation center for food and beverage companies on the West Coast.

Facility features include enhanced application, research, development and pilot manufacturing capabilities.

The facility also will be a host site for Kerry Kalaido, the company’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered concepting tool. The tool offers data that helps companies with concept ideation and development sessions.

Kerry also launched a “Taste Alley” portfolio at the site. Taste Alley is targeted toward up-and-coming food and beverage companies to help them with early business phases.

“This new space in Commerce is designed to facilitate R&D collaboration, speed up innovation cycles and allow customers to work directly with our technical experts or independently in the space,” said John Cahalane, president and chief executive officer at Kerry North America. “We are constantly looking at ways to serve our customers better, so we look forward to offering our Taste Alley portfolio and Kerry Kalaido solution to ensure they can commercialize at speed in an evolving market.”