A network for innovation

Cargill is partnering with customers to anticipate and respond to changing consumer preferences. Our global network of innovation centers, including three new facilities opened this year, accelerates collaboration with customers to deliver critical research and market-ready, sustainable product solutions. In total, we invested $40 million to expand our research and development capabilities this year.

The Shanghai Innovation Center offers a one-stop consultancy to food companies, combining the talents of our chefs, product development teams and ingredients businesses to bring customers what they need. For example, we supported an international customer looking to expand its business to China by adapting its offerings, ingredients and supply chains to meet local preferences. This approach was underpinned by consumer research that led to targeted product selections.

In Colaco, Chile, Cargill opened one of the world’s foremost innovation centers devoted to fish health. The $10.5 million investment increases by 30 percent the global capacity for conducting research trials to prevent and treat diseases that threaten aquaculture productivity. Research undertaken here will help ensure a sustainable future for this growing source of global protein.

Our research and development center in Minneapolis is pursuing projects that will transform food and nutrition. The team is advancing the Cargill stevia product line to enable customers of all sizes to create more nutritious products across the beverage, dairy, cereal, snack and confectionery categories. In collaboration with global colleagues, the center also is researching fermentation, enzymology, molecular biology and other fields to achieve breakthroughs in how food can be sustainably produced.

Safer, simpler packaging

Cargill is creating solutions that boost food safety and reduce waste. For retail ground beef sold in stores across North America, we developed packaging that keeps meat fresh longer and improves food safety. And in the U.K., we partnered with grocer Tesco to design chicken packaging with multiple sealed sections for separate portions, making it easy to prepare smaller servings with less waste.

Beauty solutions

For the personal care market, Cargill is offering sustainable, nature-derived alternatives to traditional synthetic ingredients. Our bio-fermented Actigum™ line and our seaweed-derived Satiagel™ brand of texturizers add natural body to a variety of skin and haircare products. We also are collaborating with leaders such as Unilever and L’Oréal to help craft clean-label cosmetics that appeal to consumers’ values.