To meet growing demand for specialty fats, Cargill has begun construction on a $35m expansion of its production facility in Port Klang, Malaysia. This is the first step in a multi-year investment expected to exceed $100m, aimed to significantly expand the company’s portfolio in specialty fats.
“Specialty fats are incredibly popular due to their versatility and functionality,” said Jennifer Shomenta, President and Group Leader for Cargill’s global edible oils solutions business. “With this investment, we’ll be better positioned to support our customers’ innovation journey, equipped with the building blocks necessary to co-create tailored solutions that align with their unique needs.”
At the Malaysian facility, the company will install dry palm fractionation capacity, enabling the production of a range of specialty fats for use in chocolates, coatings, fillings and compounds, spreads, bakery fats, and other applications. It will also further upgrade its Malaysia edible oils R&D Centre, enhancing lab equipment and pilot plants in line with the facility’s expanded capabilities.
The project follows a $20m upgrade to the facility which begun one year prior, enhancing the site’s production capacity and R&D capabilities.
“All too often, brands must navigate complicated supply chains to procure their specialty fats, purchasing oil from one supplier, then shipping it to others for further processing,” Shomenta said. “Through our investments at Port Klang and across our global processing locations, we’ll eliminate those extra steps, giving customers the convenience of a single, trusted partner, all backed by Cargill’s technical expertise and global resources.”
The range of ingredients produced at Port Klang are suitable for applications in the sensory profiles of many products, modulating taste, texture and mouthfeel. Derived from seed and tropical oils, specialty fats can offer various attributes from heat resistance to quick meltdown for enhanced flavour release among other functional attributes. The ingredients are also used for improving the flavour profile, product stability and other sensory factors in the rapidly growing meat and dairy alternatives market. The company’s supply chain reportedly enables it to offer specialty fats made from segregated palm oil certified by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
The expansion is expected to be complete in late 2023, whereupon the company will begin supplying finished specialty fats to customers throughout the Asia Pacific region, and semi-finished products to facilities in Europe, Middle East, Russia, South America and North America.
