Cargill Dry Corn Ingredients, a subsidiary of privately-owned US agribusiness giant Cargill, continues to make inroads into Europe with the announcement this week that its €6.05 million state-of-the-art masa flour plant is officially up and running at its Seaforth site in Liverpool, UK.
From the Seaforth site, Cargill Dry Corn Ingredients (Cargill DCI) will supply its European customers with masa flour, used in snack foods, particularly tortilla chips, made from European corn.
Rex Winter, president of Cargill's Dry Corn Ingredients business, said: "This is good news for European masa flour customers. They will continue to benefit from Cargill's existing expertise in producing high quality masa flour with the advantage of having a European based supplier."
Bill Lee, commercial manager of Cargill DCI at Seaforth, added that while masa flour has traditionally been imported from the US, increasing European Union demand for the product led Cargill to the decision to invest in its existing DCI facility in Liverpool.
Commenting on the project, Peter Dobson, head of Regional Selective Assistance at the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA), said: "We are pleased to support this important initiative which will safeguard over 50 jobs on Merseyside. As a result of the grant, Cargill has been able to diversify its product range, enabling them to continue to operate within the region which is excellent news for the local economy."
The project has been supported by the NWDA with a £500,000 Regional Selective Assistance Grant (RSA).
Cargill has been active in the UK since 1955 and now employs around 4,000 people in 16 plants and offices in the UK and Ireland.