The center features five distinct market environments—foodservice, grocery, retail, café, and bakery—alongside a dedicated prototyping lab equipped for onsite printing and sealing. By moving away from theoretical lab work, the company aims to help clients navigate the competing pressures of sustainability, cost, and performance.

"The Applied Innovation Center is where packaging concepts become customer solutions," said Stan Bikulege, Chairman and CEO of Novolex. The facility serves as a testing ground for the company’s portfolio, which spans over 39,000 SKUs. Chief Innovation & Sustainability Officer Adrianne Tipton noted that the site allows R&D teams to verify material integrity under real-world conditions, ensuring that sustainable designs can withstand the rigors of actual supply chains before reaching mass production.