Meat+Poultry - November 2017 - 17

INNOVATION meets
COLLABORATION
Cargill's Innovation Center combines
culinary expertise with customer service
BY K I M B E R L I E C LYM A | kc l y m a @ s o s l a n d.c o m

taying competitive in the protein business today isn't easy - the industry is constantly
changing. The way livestock is raised is changing. The way food is processed is
changing. And, of course, the way consumers purchase, eat and experience food
is forever changing. Keeping up with these changes while maintaining profitability is the
challenge of every company in the meat industry - and Cargill is no exception.
Cargill Protein, also known as Cargill Meat Solutions, includes all of Cargill's North
American beef, turkey, foodservice and food distribution businesses. Headquartered in
the agricultural heartland in Wichita, Kansas, the business serves foodservice operators,
retailers and food manufacturers around the country. Catering to customer needs, while
trying to maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace, the company built the Cargill
Innovation Center in 2011. The 75,000-sq.-ft. facility houses more than 70 culinary experts,
food scientists, microbiologists, labeling professionals and marketing experts, all working
together to enhance Cargill's protein product line through innovation and collaboration.
"The Cargill Innovation Center brought new capabilities to Cargill's protein business
that we did not previously possess - dedicating spaces and technology specifically designed
to enable and inspire innovative solutions and collaboration across the research and
development and culinary spaces to service the needs of our customers," says Mike Martin,
director of communications for Cargill Protein.
"The CIC's capabilities include full-service research and development, professional chefs
and culinary team and the innovation center allows our team to test new processes, develop
new products, packaging and enables innovation, which is a big focus of Cargill Protein,"
Martin says.
The CIC includes an 11,000-sq.-ft. US Dept. of Agriculture-inspected pilot plant. The
processing facility was created to test equipment and processes for commercial meat plant
applications. Equipment includes slicers, grinders, a smoker, fryer, ready-to-eat production
area and tenderness testing area.
In addition, the CIC contains several food safety labs including a fully equipped pathogen
lab for development, testing and validation of food safety interventions. The product
analytical lab contains a microbiology area and chemistry lab as well as labs for consumer
research and sensory testing. Focus groups and tasting panels can also be conducted at the
facility for in-house or customer purposes.
The ingredients and seasoning room was created for R&D purposes. Food scientists can
develop seasonings and ingredients for rubs, marinades and flavorings for customers. The
shelf life testing area contains both walk-in and retail refrigeration units to simulate shelf life
of post-production products as they move from meat processing environments to consumer,
retail and foodservice refrigeration.
On the culinary side, there is both a retail and foodservice presentation room. The
foodservice presentation room is a space designed to simulate a restaurant dining
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Meat+Poultry - November 2017

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