Blommer Chocolate Adds Chicago R&D Center

Blommer Chocolate Company announced Tuesday that it has expanded its laboratory capabilities and opened a new research and development center at its downtown Chicago headquarters.

The project doubled the space at the company's R&D hub to 10,000 square feet. The expanded center will focus on future development, concept testing, processing and ingredient research, and application creation, company officials said.

The opening comes one year after the company shuttered its historic Chicago plant and two years after it moved its headquarters to the city's Merchandise Mart building.

“This R&D center was designed with purpose, by scientists, to involve customers in our creative approach to critical thinking and development of novel concepts," Melissa Tisoncik, the company's R&D vice president, said in a statement. "The magic happens when the ideas come together and their output becomes inspirations for the future."