Cargill Plans $6.4M Expansion of Pilot FacilityCargill Plans $6.4M Expansion of Pilot Facility

American agribusiness Cargill announced a $6.4 million investment on Tuesday to increase the food pilot capabilities of its North American Pilot Development Center in Savage, MN. The firm’s edible oils business will use the new facility for multi-scale, continuous piloting to help bakery customers develop new products.

“Expanding our piloting capabilities will help us deliver more quickly what matters most to our customers,” Cargill Chief Technology Officer Florian Schattenmann said in a company press release. “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.”

The 6500-sq-ft facility will refine new vegetable oils and blends and develop shortening solutions for breads, cakes, cookies, frying, and other applications. Cargill said the site will have capabilities to pilot other food ingredients as well. 

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Cargill’s expansion project includes a new refinery pilot plant, a new fats and oils crystallization center for shortening processing, and a lab that can analyze key quality parameters in fats and oils. 

“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,” Sonia Punwani, global bakery category leader in Cargill’s edible oils business, said in a statement. “This is a big step forward for us to support bakery innovation with a combination of science, customer intimacy, and market insights.”

Work on the expansion started last April and is expected to reach completion this summer. The company also operates other pilot and food innovation facilities in China, Belgium, and Singapore. 

This month Cargill’s Diamond V business completed a $29.1 million expansion project at its Cedar Rapids, IA production plant, adding 100,000 sq ft of space to the plant’s footprint and new production and packaging capabilities.

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