"The CIIE is like a catalyst and booster, giving Cargill a bigger platform to showcase its products and images to the whole of China and even the world, and also allowing Cargill's global president and other leaders to see China's booming emerging markets." On November 6, Liu Jun, president of Cargill China, said so in an interview with The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) and other media during the second China International Import Expo.
Cargill and Chinese customers are expected to sign more than $3.1 billion in cooperation agreements at the Expo, including beef, poultry, grains, rapeseed oil and iron ore. In addition, Cargill will increase the capital of its investment company in China by $100 million, further driving Cargill's business growth in China.
"China is definitely one of our most important markets." Liu Jun revealed that Cargill will also set up an agricultural supply chain Asia Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, together with Cargill's Asia Pacific regional office in Singapore, to promote Cargill's business development in the Asia Pacific region.
Founded in 1865, Cargill is the largest unlisted enterprise in the United States, but also a leading enterprise in the global food and agriculture field, the main agricultural products business is grain, soybeans, oilseeds, oilseeds, etc., other businesses cover grain acquisition, storage, processing, as well as feed, breeding, chicken slaughtering, processing, etc., the company's sales revenue in fiscal 2019 was 113.5 billion US dollars. At the first CIIE 2018, Cargill signed cooperation agreements with a number of companies with a total amount of more than US$2.4 billion.
Liu Jun said that the Chinese market has depth and breadth, both the sinking market of third- and fourth-tier cities, and the upgrading of people's consumption, which has created good market opportunities for multinational companies such as Cargill. In addition, while displaying the popular beef, chocolate and other products at the last CIIE, Cargill also brought new products such as pea protein and natural raw skin care products this year, which can give customers more choices. The charm of the Chinese market itself, coupled with Cargill's own efforts, has made this year's signings more than last year's.
The agricultural supply chain business is one of Cargill's core businesses and an important business in China. The business covers procurement, storage, trading, processing, distribution and other aspects of agricultural products including soybeans, wheat, corn, oilseeds, barley and sorghum, as well as vegetable oils and meal. Liu Jun mentioned that China is currently the largest market for agricultural supply chains in the Asia-Pacific region.
Cargill has invested in China since the 1980s and has since deployed production and R&D facilities in the fields of agricultural supply chain, food ingredients, animal protein, animal nutrition and other fields in China, with a total investment of US$7.5 billion.
Liu Jun said, "In the past 7 years, Cargill's investment in China has doubled. This year, we invested more than $200 million in China. ”
According to him, cargill's investment projects in China in the past year include investing $40 million in a new animal nutrition factory in Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, establishing the first R&D application laboratory and office in the Beauty Care Asia-Pacific region in Shanghai, investing $112 million in Jilin Songyuan to expand corn deep processing capacity, and investing $48.8 million in Chuzhou, Anhui Province, to put into production a new animal protein deep processing product line.
Liu Jun mentioned that in the past two years, the demand for China's meat market has also undergone some changes. On the one hand, the spread of African swine fever in China has a certain impact on the pig breeding industry, but consumer demand for animal protein is still there, and this part of the demand may be replaced by chicken, beef and other meats. On the other hand, with the improvement of the living standards of Chinese consumers, there is also a demand for consumption upgrading, and the consumption of relatively expensive meats such as beef has also increased. He believes that this is both a challenge and an opportunity, and Cargill is leveraging its strengths in global supply chain integration to meet the new needs of a wide range of Chinese consumers.
Regarding the risks in the current market, Liu Jun said that the external market will definitely fluctuate, and Cargill, as a large multinational enterprise with a history of 154 years, should also consider how to adapt the management system and internal processes to the rapid changes in China. "We must not only ensure global consistency, but also adapt to the rapid changes in the Chinese market, and will make more adjustments and improvements in the future."
Talking about Cargill's future development plan in China, Liu Jun revealed that the first is to continue to provide integrated solutions and services while maintaining the stable growth of traditional products. The Chinese market is changing and the catering industry is becoming more and more developed, and Cargill will continue to provide quality services to downstream customers such as the catering industry. The second is to pay attention to product innovation and strive to provide Chinese consumers with a rich variety of products to meet the changing needs of the public for food and nutrition. For example, high-power sweeteners that do not contain calories are extracted from stevia leaves to replace existing sugars, and pea protein is applied to artificial meat products.