MECHELEN, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 3, 2026--
In a move that underscores Cargill’s commitment to the Belgian market, the company announced two recent expansions at its Izegem edible oils bottling site and its Mouscron gourmet chocolate facility, along with a new extrusion pilot plant at its Vilvoorde Innovation Center. The approximately €56 million total investment enhances the company’s operational and research & innovation capabilities. It also supports Cargill’s ability to serve growing demand for edible oils, premium chocolate products and customer-led innovation.
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In just 12 months, Cargill has transformed its largest edible oil bottling facility in Europe into an even stronger foodservice hub. With a €21 million investment, around 60% of the site was transformed focusing on nearly doubling its capacity and developing automation and innovation intended to improve efficiency and reinforce long-term supply reliability. The expansion also includes two new dedicated foodservice production lines enabling flexible production and reinforcing its strong capabilities in serving foodservice customers.
In Mouscron, linked to its current gourmet chocolate production site, Cargill’s €30 million investment adds an impressive 10,500 sqm of additional production space, almost doubling the company’s gourmet chocolate production capabilities. The expansion strengthens Cargill’s ability to help gourmet chocolate customers respond to seasonal demand, develop more tailored products and shorten lead times. The expanded site will produce Cargill’s premium couverture chocolate range Veliche and support artisanal foodservice customers, restaurants and food manufacturers.
Cargill has also strengthened its European R&D capabilities in Vilvoorde through a €5.4 million investment in a new extrusion pilot plant at its Innovation Center. The facility supports rapid prototyping, ingredient functionality testing and customer collaboration across food, feed and pet food applications, and builds on the previously announced €45 million investment in Cargill’s food innovation center in Vilvoorde. Together, these investments strengthen Cargill’s broader European R&D network.
“Belgium is a key strategic hub for Cargill in Europe, thanks to its strong food industry, close customer connectivity, and advanced logistics infrastructure that enable efficient supply across Western Europe,” said Geert Maesmans, Vice President of R&D for Cargill’s Food business in EMEA and Cargill’s Belgium country lead. “These investments not only strengthen our local food R&D and production capabilities but allow us to continue to grow with our customers and provide them with more diverse and innovative food solutions across Belgium and the EMEA region.”
The recent investments add to Cargill’s broader footprint in Belgium, where the company has operated since 1953 and today employs more than 1,500 people across 9 locations spanning production, R&D and regional coordination functions.
Together, the Izegem, Mouscron, and Vilvoorde investments reinforce Belgium’s position in Cargill’s European network and support the company’s focus on supply, innovation and more sustainable production.
About Cargill
Cargill is committed to providing food, ingredients, agricultural solutions, and industrial products to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way. Sitting at the heart of the supply chain, we partner with farmers and customers to source, make and deliver products that are vital for living.
Our 155K+ employees innovate with purpose, providing customers with life’s essentials so businesses can grow, communities prosper, and consumers live well. With 160 years of experience as a family company, we look ahead while remaining true to our values. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing—today and for generations to come. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.
Expansion of Cargill’s edible oils operations in Izegem, Belgium, where the company is investing to increase bottling capacity and strengthen its foodservice production capabilities.
Veliche gourmet chocolate products on a new production line at Cargill’s site in Mouscron, Belgium, where the company is expanding production capacity for gourmet chocolate.
A Cargill employee working at the company’s Innovation Center in Vilvoorde, Belgium, where Cargill is strengthening its R&D capabilities to support food innovation and customer collaboration.
California Democrats persuaded voters to let them redraw the state's congressional map so the party could potentially gain five seats in the U.S. House to counter GOP redistricting in Texas. Tuesday’s primary will be the first indication of whether that will pay off.
Democrats seemed to dodge the possibility of a primary shutout in one redrawn district near San Diego, but still ran a risk of having no candidates make it to the November ballot in a second district they banked on outside of Sacramento. California’s unusual primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party, means that if one party runs too many candidates, they can split the vote and all miss making it to the general election.
Democrats had feared that scenario in the San Diego-area district held by the retiring Rep. Darrell Issa that was redrawn last year to become a swing seat. Republican San Diego County supervisor, Jim Desmond, advanced to the November ballot for that seat Tuesday. An avalanche of nine Democrats also entered the running — but at least one of them seemed certain to finish in the second slot.
Former Obama administration official Ammar Campa-Najjar, San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert and investor Brandon Riker, who is financing his own campaign, are the most prominent Democrats in that race.
The situation was more dubious in suburban Sacramento, where Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the GOP to become an independent after his conservative district was divvied up into more Democratic ones, was fighting to make the ballot along with a lone registered Republican and a host of Democrats. Only one Democrat was in the top three of the race late Tuesday.
Democrats had long worried about the possibility of a shutout in one of the redrawn districts.
“After millions of dollars and a nationwide effort to redraw these districts in response to Texas, Democrats being shut out would be a nightmare,” Campa-Najjar said.
California has been the bright spot for Democrats in a redistricting war kicked off by President Donald Trump to help his party retain control of the House. After Texas redrew its map to make as many as five more seats winnable for the GOP, California voters allowed Democrats to suspend their state’s own independent redistricting commission and create a new map in retaliation.
But when Virginia Democrats tried to replicate that, they were blocked by their state Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, letting Republicans eliminate some majority-Black congressional districts in the South.
The schism between establishment Democrats and a younger, insurgent progressive wing is a defining characteristic of many of this year's primaries across the country, and it's no different in California.
In Sacramento, city council member Mai Vang is challenging 81-year-old Rep. Doris Matsui, who succeeded her late husband after he died in 2005.
The split in the party was encapsulated at a polling place in the suburb of Elk Grove on Tuesday. Tamara Alton, a 65-year-old marriage and family therapist, said she was voting for Matsui, who seemed likely to end up in one of the top two slots as of late Tuesday.
“I’m going with who I know,” Alton said.
Democrat Khydeeja Alam, 42, a small farmer who also works for the state, said she planned to vote for Vang.
Alam, who is Muslim, said Matsui didn’t do enough to engage with Muslim Americans after the war in Gaza began.
“She’s not been accessible, which has been a really big disappointment,” Alam said.
Rep. Brad Sherman, whose Southern California district stretches from the San Fernando Valley to Malibu, made it to the November ballot while fending off a challenge by Democrat Jake Levine, a 42-year-old lawyer who argues that it is time to move on from the 15-term congressman. Republican Larry Thompson, a lawyer, also advanced to the general election for that seat.
In a redrawn district that stretches from Napa Valley into conservative Northern California farming communities, 14-term Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson has drawn a younger challenger, former venture capitalist Eric Jones, but also seems likely to advance.
And in a safe Democratic district in San Francisco, Scott Wiener, a state lawmaker and former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, advanced to the November race to replace retiring former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The suspense is over whether he will face Saikat Chakrabarti, a wealthy former technology entrepreneur who supported Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s insurgent primary in 2018, or Supervisor Connie Chan, who was endorsed by Pelosi.
California's congressional primaries also will determine the fate of Republicans targeted in the Democratic redraw.
In the Central Valley, they redrew the seat held by Republican Rep. David Valadao to make it even more Democratic. Valadao is a survivor of several targeted Democratic campaigns and one of two remaining Republican House members who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
He’s expected to make it to the general election, so the primary will determine which Democrat faces him — state Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, a moderate backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or Randy Villegas, a political science professor at College of the Sequoias and a school board member who represents the party’s liberal wing.
The district was rattled Tuesday evening by an hourslong standoff in downtown Bakersfield between police and a man holding local residents inside a bank. Local officials said the main county building and its ballot drop box remained open, but Bains canceled her election night party, citing the standoff.
In Southern California, sitting Republican Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim were drawn into the same conservative district and are battling over their pro-Trump credentials. That was on the mind of Brett Christensen, a 55-year-old school safety monitor who voted for Calvert on Tuesday because he thought the congressman had been a more reliable conservative vote.
“Young Kim’s voting record has not been consistent,” Christensen said outside a polling place in the city of Orange.
Meanwhile, in the San Francisco suburbs, six Democrats and two Republicans are running for the seat formerly held by Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned and ended his gubernatorial bid amid sexual harassment allegations. The top two vote-getters advance to the November ballot to fill the seat starting in 2027, while a special election will be held June 18 for the remainder of Swalwell's current term.
This story corrects the spelling of the name of a candidate who is running in San Francisco. It is Saikat Chakrabarti, not Saikat Charkrabati.
Sophie Austin in Elk Grove, California, and Amy Taxin in Orange contributed to this report.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., speaks during an election night event Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
FILE - Mai Vang speaks to people at a campaign fundraiser, Jan. 21, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)
FILE - California Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, speaks during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Oct. 29, 2024.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)
FILE - Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., speaks at the Capitol in Washington, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Jim Desmond, a Republican candidate for California's 48th Congressional District, poses for a portrait Friday, May 29, 2026, in Vista, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Marni von Wilpert, a Democratic candidate for California's 48th Congressional District, canvasses in a neighborhood Friday, May 29, 2026, in San Marcos, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Ammar Campa-Najjar, right, a Democratic candidate for California's 48th Congressional District, speaks with a family as he canvasses in a neighborhood Saturday, May 23, 2026, in San Marcos, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
