July 24/St. Louis/Press Release -- Bunge North America, the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited, is expanding the Bunge Ingredient Innovation Center (BIIC) in Bradley, Ill., to include a full-service culinary center. The facility includes an industrial kitchen and a corporate dining room with extensive video capabilities.

"As a leader in innovation for milled grain and edible oil products, this new facility reflects our continued commitment to providing our customers with a complete range of products and services," said Soren Schroder, president and CEO, Bunge North America. "The culinary center enables customers to take our award-winning food ingredients and either test how they improve their existing products or develop new recipes."

Bunge notes its Ingredient Innovation Center can now take products from creation to commercialization. Bunge's team of 25 scientists can develop, taste and sample in the bakery applications, analytical and sensory laboratories to ensure they met the nutritional, performance and taste attributes required.

"In addition to providing a hands-on experience for our customers, the new culinary center enables us to showcase the talents of our chefs through live product demonstrations and training," said Bill McCullough, director of marketing. "We also strengthen the link between the applications scientists and culinary experts from our Chef's group by developing on-trend menu items for foodservice as well as developing new product concepts that end up on the retail shelf."