PH to get $235M investment from Cargill in next 2 years
Cargill, the US-based food and agriculture multinational giant, is setting its sights on potential areas of expansion like Southeast Asia and China.
As Cargill’s first office in Asia, the Philippines is one of the countries that the company is set on investing in. Cargill Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dave MacLennan said as much as $235 million or P13 billion will be invested in the country in the next couple of years.
The firm started doing business in the country in 1948, buying local copra for export to the United States. Cargill’s 70th year in PH was celebrated last Tuesday.
Cargill’s Core Businesses in PH
MacLennan said that the investment in the Philippines aims to boost Cargill’s core businesses here which include animal nutrition, poultry, grain and oilseeds, and food and beverage ingredients.
As of now, Cargill is the leading animal nutrition supplier in the country. The company offers swine, poultry, and aqua feeds as well as premix solutions. It also has four feed mills in the Philippines. They are located in Villasis in Pangasinan, Baliuag and Pulilan in Bulacan, and Villanueva in Misamis Oriental.
The multinational company is also in partnership with Jollibee Foods Corporation via their joint venture firm, Cargill Joy Poultry Meats Production. The firm operates a poultry processing facility in Santo Tomas, Batangas.
On top of that, Cargill also supplies grain and meal in both the food and feed industries. It also has a copra-crushing plant in General Santos City, which produces crude coconut oil and copra meal for both local and international markets, and several copra-buying stations that help coconut farmers gain access to export markets.
In the food and beverage industry, Cargill sells ingredients including starches, sweeteners, and texturizing ingredients. It also operates a joint-venture carrageenan (hydrocolloid) production plant called Philippines Bio Industries located in Canlubang, Laguna.
“In those four categories we will see our investments in the next couple of years,” said Maclennan.
Although he refused to give specific details, Cargill Philippines President Philip Soliven said part of the investment will go to Visayas and Mindanao.
“It makes sense [that we put some of our investments there because] Mindanao is an important agricultural area for the country,” Soliven said.
As of the moment, Cargill is focused on helping meet the increasing local demand for chicken and pork while delivering solutions in vital areas of the global agricultural supply chain.
