PEPPERIDGE FARMS BREAKS GROUND ON $30M RESEARCH CENTER

NORWALK, CONN. — Pepperidge Farm, a subsidiary of Campbell Soup Co., has broken ground on a $30 million, 34,000-square-foot innovation center at Pepperidge Farms headquarters at 595 Westport Ave. in Norwalk. The facility will house a pilot plant with product development and testing lines, kitchens, laboratories and meeting rooms. The new center will focus on the baking snack sector of its inventory. The facility is slated to be delivered in fall 2012. The center will be designed to reach LEED certification by Springfield, Mass.-based The Dennis Group and Stamford, Conn.-based Perkins Eastman.