Excalibur’s new 14,000-square-foot R&D Center and Meat Processing Kitchen is rapidly taking shape at our Pekin, Illinois, headquarters.

Since the groundbreaking on October 14, 2025, the metal roof, windows, and siding are in place at the “innovation hub,” which will set a new benchmark for excellence in the meat and seafood seasoning space.

The facility features an expanded lab and a commercial-grade kitchen, allowing the team to replicate customer processing from dry ingredients to finished products.

“This expansion will fundamentally change how we serve customers,” says President Mike Shrier. “We will significantly shorten our product development cycles by handling validation on-site.”

The new campus also includes a high-tech presentation room for video content and a back patio for customer events. The expansion reinforces Excalibur’s commitment to local job growth and cutting-edge seasoning innovation.

The project is expected to be completed mid-summer 2026.