Included in the sale was a pectin production line, dry peel storage silos, a quality control laboratory and a commercial portfolio.
Cargill’s president for its texturising solutions business Colleen May told FoodManufacture.co.uk that no new jobs would be created as a result of the acquisition but Cargill would inherit an experienced workforce with the Milazzo site.
“We are getting the team ready to start the plant back again,” she said. “We will be using employees already there, many with more than 20 years’ expertise.
New factory manager
“There will be no new roles but we will fill existing roles with Cargill staff. For example we will have a factory manager, but it will be a Cargill factory manager.”
May said there were no plans for further investment in the production equipment at the site, now Cargill’s third pectin plant, but it would consider further spending if needed.
“We only took possession of the site in recent days,” she added. “The plant runs very well and following due diligence our intent is that it will align with Cargill’s standards.”
Cargill in numbers
- $120.4bn in sales and revenue in 2015
- 153,000 employees
- 67 countries
The acquisition would allow Cargill to cater for its customers growing demand for pectin, May claimed.
‘Star performers’
“Pectin has been one of our star performers,” she said. “It has a unique functionality and has its own right as a blended product – we see it as a critical market for us.
“This site aids in our ability to give customers what they want, so it is win-win.”
Meanwhile, Cargill announced plans to introduce SonoSteam technology at its Hereford poultry processing plant to tackle campylobacter.
Sonosteam is a process developed by Danish firm Force Technology that uses steam and ultrasound to kill campylobacter on the skin and internal cavities of chicken.
Watch the technology in action at Faccenda’s Brackley site in Northampton. Faccenda has managed to cut campylobacter by 80% at the facility as a result of the technology.