NORTHBROOK, ILL. — Barilla on Nov. 9 celebrated the grand opening of its new Region Americas Headquarters in Northbrook, situated within Chicago’s North Shore business corridor. Earlier this fall, Barilla relocated approximately 150 employees from its office in Bannockburn, Ill., to the new headquarters in Northbrook.
“This is a new and exciting chapter for us, one that speaks to the passion we feel for continuous innovation,” said Guido Barilla, chairman. “It’s how we are growing the business. Now, when our employees come to work, they are welcomed to a space that is built for collaboration and learning, both of which are the engine that pushes us forward into new territories and to even better serve our customers.”
Barilla said it chose the new 75,000-square-foot facility to enhance the employee and customer experience, as well as enable new research and development innovation capabilities. The new headquarters is designed to deliver on three core focus areas aligned with Barilla’s growth strategy: stacking Barilla’s innovation pipeline; putting the customer at the forefront of everything Barilla does; and enhancing Barilla’s credibility with its people and its products.
Additionally, the new headquarters features pilot plant capabilities, full test and demonstration kitchens, a customer collaboration center for joint business planning with customers, an onsite (customer) listening room, idea and prototype factories, a learning center offering language immersion courses for employees, and a full-service employee fitness center and onsite café.
Currently, the Barilla Group owns 30 production sites (14 in Italy and 16 abroad) and exports to more than 100 countries. Every year, its plants turn out about 1,700,000 tons of food products under the following brand names: Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Voiello, Pavesi, Academia Barilla, Wasa, Harrys (in France and Russia), Misko (in Greece), Filiz (in Turkey), Yemina and Vesta (in Mexico).
