Cargill invests $20 million in Minnesota egg processing facility

To meet increasing customer and consumer demand for a greater variety of cooked egg products, Cargill is investing $20 million to expand its Big Lake, Minn., egg processing facility. The Big Lake expansion includes capabilities to pasteurize, mix, and cook a number of additional egg products for foodservice and protein ingredient customers.

Employment at the plant is expected to increase by approximately 16%, adding a dozen new positions to support the growth. The expansion will double the facility’s annual requirement for eggs from family farms in the area to 170 million. Construction begins in May, with the new capabilities expected to become operational in January 2019.

“We continue to invest in the traditional protein space to provide our foodservice and food ingredient customers innovative, high-quality cooked egg products to meet growing consumer demand,” said Jared Johnson, Big Lake plant general manager. “This investment underscores our ongoing commitment to the Big Lake community and our employees, egg suppliers, and restaurant and foodservice customers throughout the upper Midwest.”