Why Dr Schär USA chose to make New Jersey its US home

But not all of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center's clients are tiny start-ups.

Indeed, one of its most famous ‘graduates’ is Lyndhurst, NJ-based Dr. Schär USA​, the North American arm of European gluten-free market leader Dr Schär, which manufactured baked goods for two years at the FIC in Bridgeton before opening its own dedicated $16m 52,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Swedesboro New Jersey, in 2012.

And while Dr Schär USA chose New Jersey for lots of reasons, including its proximity to Port Newark, great transport links and its economic development incentives programs, the wide-ranging support it was able to get from the Rutgers FIC was critical to its decision, said Cooperhouse.

Indeed, the FIC provided advice and practical support on everything from equipment assessment and installation, to ingredient sourcing and raw material specifications, prototype development and consumer research, quality assurance and food safety design, employee hiring and training, and product and process commercialization.