Cargill invests $6.4m to upgrade food pilot capabilities at US site

Cargill is investing $6.4 million to expand and upgrade its food pilot capabilities at its North American Pilot Development Center in Savage, Minnesota, to accelerate the development of new bakery products.

According to Cargill, the expanded facility will enable the company’s edible oils unit to conduct multi-scale, continuous piloting, from the refining of new vegetable oils and blends to developing new shortening solutions for breads, cakes, cookies, frying and other uses.

According to a statement from Cargill, the expanded 6,500 square-foot facility will feature a refinery pilot plant to create new oils and blends, a fats and oils crystallisation centre, and a lab to rapidly analyse key fats and oils quality parameters.

The company has stated that other food ingredients, including those used for confectionery products and infant nutrition, can be piloted at the site as well.

Construction of the new pilot facility began in April 2019, and the site is expected to be fully operational late summer 2020. The pilot facility is adjacent to Cargill’s Engineering R&D Lab in Savage, and complements Cargill’s state-of-the-art Minneapolis Research and Development Center and the Cargill Food Innovation Center.

Florian Schattenmann, chief technology officer at Cargill, said: “Expanding our piloting capabilities will help us deliver more quickly what matters most to our customers.

“It allows us to better partner with our customers to evaluate new raw materials, validate performance specifications and develop new products through a distinctive continuum of innovation services all located within the Twin Cities.”

Sonia Punwani, global bakery category leader for Cargill’s edible oils business, added: “Our expanded pilot facility and our Food Innovation Center together will allow us to more quickly respond to customer requests for samples and test their performance in bakery products.

“This is a big step forward for us to support bakery innovation with the combination of science, customer intimacy, and market insights.