LUXEMBOURG CITY, LUXEMBOURG — CSM Ingredients recently opened a new margarine production line at the company’s facility in Crema, Italy. The line’s inauguration coincided with a 100th anniversary celebration of the plant.

In addition to margarine production, the Crema facility serves as CSM’s Italian corporate headquarters as well as a production site for vegetable creams and frozen bakery products.

“It gives me great satisfaction to celebrate the first 100 years of one of the most important factories in our group, a Made in Italy best practice,” said Aldo Uva, chief executive officer of CSM. “The plant has a central role in satisfying the demand of global markets since it develops 55% of our product offering in the categories it operates in. This milestone for Crema is particularly significant for us, not only because it is a great recognition of what has been achieved so far thanks to the continuous commitment of the workers and the connection with the local community, but also because it represents a new, exciting milestone for our group. We are also proud to inaugurate a new production line dedicated to margarine, a key ingredient that is highly appreciated by the food industry for its performance and greater sustainability compared to animal-derived alternatives. At CSM Ingredients, our goal is to invest in technologies and products to continue having significant economic and social impact in the regions where we operate and, above all, to chart a more sustainable and positive path for the future of the entire food sector.”

CSM said it invested €2 million ($2.14 million) in the new margarine production line, which brings the facility’s capacity to more than 70,000 tons per year.

The 350,900-square-foot Crema plant is organized into three production departments. The NDC (non-dairy creams) department manufactures up to 16,000 tons of creams per year, CSM said. The second department is dedicated to fats and oils and is the core of the facility’s activities, churning out margarines and blends. The third department is frozen bakery products, primarily focused on the production of puff pastries such as croissants, savory snacks and mini pizzas.

In addition to the production area, the Crema plant features a product development center dedicated to research and development of new recipes and products, as well as an application center where the company conducts tests, training initiatives, presentations and webinars.