Cargill Strengthens its Cocoa and Chocolate R&D Capabilities

09 May 2014 --- Cargill’s cocoa & chocolate business has appointed Willem van der Meijs to the role of Research & Development Manager. In this new role, van der Meijs will focus on new product development and further establish Cargill’s expertise and knowhow around cocoa and chocolate product innovation.

Van der Meijs, who comes to Cargill from Danone’s Medical Nutrition Division, said: “This is an exciting time to join Cargill and its highly talented people. We can see the growing need from within the industry to constantly and rapidly address evolving consumer demand. There is an opportunity for us to share our innovation capabilities and insights in consumption trends. It is our ambition to partner with our customers to help them achieve their ambitions to create, improve and revise their product and service offerings”

In addition, Cargill’s cocoa & chocolate R&D function welcomes Miriam van Wanroij as the new manager in product and process development (PPD), undertaking fundamental, long-term R&D projects, and Barry Doesburg as the manager coatings and fillings within the technical services team (TS), which engages with customers in new product design.

Commenting on the step change taking place in the R&D department, Jos de Loor, President, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate said: “The appointment of Willem van der Meijs, along with the other new colleagues demonstrates the resources Cargill’s cocoa and & chocolate business is putting into R&D in Europe. We have an unwavering focus on supporting our customers and transforming our knowledge into applied expertise to meet their challenges.”