By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
Cargill has expanded the size of its food innovation centre in Plymouth, Minnesota, from 20,000 square feet to 40,000 sq. ft. The innovation centre currently serves as the company’s main research facility, providing assistance to its food and beverage manufacturing customers in North America.
"We wanted to find the best way to satisfy the product research and development needs of our customers in food and beverage manufacturing and the food service industry," Kerr Dow, Cargill vice president of global food technology said in a release. "So, we designed a facility we believe will promote collaboration, accelerate innovation and help our customers reduce product development cycles."
The $5.5 million expansion includes state-of-the-art research equipment, including fry lab and sensory evaluation centre. According to Cargill, the fry lab supports food service consumers by looking at the performance of different blends of frying oils. A sensory evaluation space has room for consumer panelists and testing booths. In addition, the facility also provides an area for snacks and cereal pilot applications, and a bakery applications centre. The facility will offer expertise in several food categories, including snacks, cereals, bakery, confectionary, and frying applications.
Cargill says it will bring its North American food and ingredient research staff together in the innovation centre. The aim is to promote collaboration and accelerate innovation in the food and beverage sector. The Plymouth facility is part of the network of Global Cargill Innovation Centres. Other facilities are located in Europe and Latin America. Cargill has 143,000 employees in 67 countries.