BELGIUM – Cargill has opened a Culinary Experience Hub in its research and development site in Vilvoorde, Belgium, to help customers develop on-the-spot innovative solutions.
At the new facility, Cargill will work with customers from across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region in developing food formulation solution and co-creating new ingredients and recipes alongside Cargill’s food experts.
The facility features a bakery pilot plant, a frying centre and a culinary tasting area with capabilities for dairy, beverage, bakery, convenience foods and culinary applications.
As one of Cargill’s first culinary experience centers, the Vilvoorde facility is specialized in research and development into new food ingredients and recipes to help customers in either adapting existing products or developing new ones which match evolving consumer demands.
André van der Wulp, Cargill R&D leader in EMEA explains: “Cargill’s Vilvoorde Culinary Experience Hub houses a team of culinary experts and chefs that collaborate with customers to develop on-the-spot innovative solutions that specifically address the challenges and demands of consumers.
“Our quality products combined with a dash of culinary creativity help us and our customers come up with new, on-trend food solutions that don’t compromise on taste, quality and affordability.”
The Vilvoorde Culinary Experience Hub is located in Cargill’s European R&D Center, is the company’s primary research and development center serving the EMEA region.
It is closely linked to a network of innovation centers that provide R&D, applications and technical service support to customers around the world, which places the company in close contact with evolving trends in local markets allowing customers to tailor make products.
The center in Vilvoorde employs over 150 scientists and technologists. In addition Cargill has also announced that it will open a new innovation lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaig before the end of the year.
Led by Cargill’s digital labs team of data scientists, students and staff at the lab will work directly with Cargill business leaders, operations teams and customers to help move digital ideas into workable concepts.
