Bunge announced it has sold its sugar trading operations to Wilmar who confirmed it had acquired both the raw and refined sugar trading books. No financial details were given. The acquisition will enable Wilmar, which was the chief buyer of Brazilian sugar exports this year, to continue its global expansion. Bunge, on the other hand, had earlier said it was also planning to sell its sugar production operations.
In Brazil, ADM announced it will buy Algar Agro’s oilseeds refining and bottling plants as well as its origination and storage silos. ADM said it was now “the most diversified oilseeds processor in the world.” Algar said it was getting out of the soybean crushing and trading businesses to focus on producing grains. ADM also concluded the takeover of probiotic supplements company Probiotics International. The new company – which will be known as ADM Protexin – will add to ADM’s health and wellness business. In Atlantic, meanwhile, ADM sold a grain elevator to Pipeline Foods, which focuses on non-GMO and organic supply chain solutions. The group explained that the elevator would give them direct access to farmers and therefore improve transparency and traceability in their supply chain.
Cargill said it was looking at expanding its salmon and shrimp feed business further downstream into farming. The aim would be to extend throughout the seafood value chain from feed to consumers directly. In the meanwhile, Cargill continues to expand its feed business. It has tied up with a farmer in Ecuador to test a new feed plant. Back in the US, Cargill Animal Nutrition has kickstarted a Facebook campaign to promote The Great American Milk Drive. The company will give three servings of milk to the Drive for every farmer who uses the HerdFirst Facebook frame and tells his story of caring for dairy animal along with the hashtag #putyourherdfirst. The Herdfirst initiative aims to encourage dairy farmers to balance the nutritional needs of young animals with their business requirements.
Russia is leasing out 1 million ha of farmland to foreign investors, about half of which are likely to be from China which is looking for land to grow soybeans after its spat with the US. With this, there is now about 3 million ha in the Far Eastern Federal District available for dairy farming, cultivating soybeans, wheat and potatoes among other crops.
Sustainability advocacy group As You Sow has started a global alliance of investors whose aim is to put pressure on major companies to reduce plastic waste. Investors representing USD 1 trillion of asset management have signed up. This comes at a time when Greenpeace found that while US supermarkets have made significant efforts to ensure the seafood they offer is sustainable there have been no improvements to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics.
As You Sow argued that pollution and sustainability issues were a brand – and therefore a business – risk. One telling example was the case of beverage group Monster Energy Drink. Earlier this year, a petition was signed by consumers threatening to switch to another brand if the group did not improve supply chain transparency. This happened after Monster was ranked among the worst performers for supply chain accountability.
We talked a lot about agriculture and chemicals this week (see previous posts here). The latest is a US study which found significant levels of the weedkiller glyphosate in several brands of breakfast cereals, oats and snack bars which are marketed for children. Some 43 of the 45 oat-derived products tested positive and three quarters had levels considered unsafe for consumption by children.
This summary was produced by ECRUU
