Belgium: Cargill invests in production facility in Mouscron

Cargill has begun construction on a new facility in Belgium with a $48m investment that is set to double the capacity of production in Mouscron over the next two years, FoodBev reports.

The new investment comes as Cargill seeks to meet increased demand for Belgian confectionery, dairy and bakery products from its European customers. The expansion will increase the capacity of liquid dark and milk chocolate as well as solid chocolate chunks, with raw materials such as cocoa butter sourced from processing plants in The Netherlands and France.

Jos de Loor, president of Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate, stated: "The extension of our state-of-the-art facility in Mouscron, along with our food ingredient expertise, will support our cocoa and chocolate growth strategy".

The new production line will begin operations in summer 2014, creating an estimated 40 new jobs over the next two years.

Source: FoodBev