To meet increasing customer and consumer demand for a greater variety of cooked egg products, Cargill announced April 11 that it 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, Cargill said.

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 will begin 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 with innovative, high-quality cooked egg products to meet growing consumer demand,” said Jared Johnson, general manager of the Big Lake plant. “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.”

The Big Lake expansion is part of nearly $900 million of investments Cargill has made in the past two years to grow its traditional protein business in North America. At egg production facilities, this included a $27 million investment in Lake Odessa, Mich., in 2016 and a $12 million expansion in Mason City, Iowa, in 2017.

“Economies are improving. More people are moving into the middle class, and the world population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. These factors are driving significantly increased demand for animal protein around the world,” Johnson said. “Cargill’s protein team is prepared to play a critical role in meeting this demand and nourish the world with sustainable, high-quality protein.”

Cargill opened the Big Lake facility in 2001. It complements Cargill’s egg processing facilities in Monticello, Minn.; Mason City, and Lake Odessa.