Cargill is continuing its path to innovation by expanding INFUSE by Cargill to META which was first introduced in Europe in 2020. The company opened an ingredient blending plant and a high-tech Application Center in Bursa, Orhangazi that is a regional research facility that offers META customers the ease of a blended solution that can help speed up their development cycles and launch innovative products faster to market

In a move to help dairy manufacturers better respond to evolving consumer demands, Cargill Turkey has opened a state-of-the-art technical application center and a high-tech ingredient blending production plant in Bursa, Orhangazi. The company is investing US$ 5 million to expand its INFUSE by Cargill service and the center will serve as a regional innovation hub, supporting dairy customers throughout the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META).

First introduced in Europe in 2020, INFUSE delivers ingredient solutions that meet new demands around nutritional balance, plant-based, and label-friendliness. It offers the ease of a blended solution that speeds up development cycles to get innovations to market faster.

Local alternative to imported products

Located in Orhangazi, Turkey, the Application Center has the ability to offer solutions for the current consumer trends like calorie or fat reduction, fiber and protein-enriched foods, or plant-based foods etc. Besides these emerging trends, Cargill wants to meet META dairy manufacturers' needs like offering more affordable products to market or solving their supply chain hurdles by offering them customized easy-to-apply blends. The center includes pilot facilities that mimic full-scale dairy processing production lines, enabling Cargill ingredient and application specialists to test ingredient solutions in real-world conditions rapidly.

Cargill Foods META executive committee member and chief product and marketing officer, Cem Beysel, said the center will serve as a regional innovation area. Beysel added, "As Cargill, we have been trying to support food and beverage manufacturers both in Turkey and in the Middle East and Africa with our ever-expanding products and services. With this investment in Bursa Orhangazi, we will serve our customers as if this place is their own R&D center. The Application Center offers manufacturers texturizing blends. Mixtures, which are used in very low quantities to ensure the fluidity, aftertaste, rough and/or smoothness of the foods, meet the customers' special needs while creating the advantage of speed and low cost."

"We always start by understanding each customer's requirements, then use our technical expertise to land on the right combination and ratio of ingredients," Beysel said. "INFUSE, which sits at the heart of reformulation and innovation, represents the way Cargill helps our customers succeed."

The most suitable formulation

Three pillars serve as the foundation for Cargill's customer focus in META - an unwavering attention to providing on-trend solutions, a commitment to speed to market, and access to deep technical expertise and resources to create ingredient blends tailored to meet each customer's unique needs.

"With more than 300 ingredients in our toolbox, we can quickly develop, deliver and optimize prototypes, dramatically shortening bench development time," Beysel said. "Given today's complex formulation challenges, the days of solving problems with a single ingredient are gone. We understand how ingredients work together and how to create optimal solutions. Producers in the META region are in search of innovative products that are suitable for consumers' preferences and taste. On the other hand, manufacturers of new generation products, especially vegan dairy alternatives, are also in search of solutions for the localization and local production of imported formulas. With the application center, we will support the development of the most suitable solution for the needs in the fastest way possible."