1 CARGILL VOICE Cargill China Employee Magazine First Issue 2012 SSC’s growth plan in China Cargill China holds S&D seminar with key government stakeholders Cargill recognized as top China recruiter Cargill Specialty Asia Fit to Grow facilitates China 2020 aspiraons
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CARGILLVOICE
Cargill China Employee Magazine
FirstIssue2012
SSC’s growth plan in China
Cargill China holds S&D seminar with key government stakeholders
Cargill recognized as top China recruiter
Cargill Specialty Asia
Fit to Growfacilitates China 2020aspirations
2Contents Cargill Voice First Issue 2012
Dialogue
03 Interview with Paul Conway
Feature
07 SSC’s growth plan in China
Business Development and Updates
11 Cargill Specialty Asia
11 CAPC Anhui project received business license
12 SSC holds cornerstone laying ceremony in Luohe
13 Acquisition of Provimi
13 Sale of global flavors
Reputation in China
14 Cargill holds S&D seminar with key government
stakeholders
15 Cargill leverages Guangdong government meetings to
enhance reputation
16 CAPC builds relationship with Anhui government
17 SSC receives visit from Luohe government
17 Cargill recognized as top China recruiter
Customer Focus
19 ROCM hosts vegoils customer event in Sanya
19 Cocoa supply chain to Mars
Change Management - Fit to Grow
21 CAN China-FTG in full swing
21 GOSC - Optimize the Process
Career Development
23 Graduate Trainee Program
24 Growing with Cargill
Corporate Responsibility
26 What role do you play in ensuring food safety
at Cargill?
26 World Food Day
27 Cargill Cares Rural Education Program
28 Run for Rural Development
28 Safety Week in Nantong
Our family
29 5 Years in Cargill (until 2011/09-12)
30 10 Years, 15 Years, 20 Years and 30 Years in Cargill
(until 2011/09-12)
On the coverCargill China is in full swing of FTG.
Feature, page 7
Business updates, page 11
Reputation in China page 14-17
Our AppreciationWe would like to express sincere
thanks for all your support for
providing raw materials and contents,
contributing inputs and comments,
and involving in rounds of discussion,
although there is no byline is given
to each article. We look forward to
working closely with you again for
the next issue of Cargill Voice.
Cargill China Corporate Affairs Team
3DIALOGUE
Paul Conway,
Vice Chairman and CLT member
"Ultimately, getting Fit to Grow is about improving our results, which in itself gives more oxygen for growth."
Vice Chairman Paul Conway speaks about becoming Fit to Grow and building a great Cargill business in China
For the past several months, Cargill has been
on a mission to get Fit to Grow by regaining our
earnings momentum, reducing expenses by $250
million and addressing underlying behaviors that
are getting in the way of our long-term success.
Those efforts included a review of activities and
priorities across business units, functions and
Tartan that led to a series of decisions, such as
making specialized training programs (like the
Marketing Academy and Sales Effectiveness
training) more cost-effective, and applying
standardized processes more selectively.
Regrettably, some of our decisions resulted in
the elimination of approximately 2,000 jobs
globally.
However, the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) is
confident that the actions taken have set us on
the right path to become a fitter and more agile
Cargill. We will continue to focus on ways to
drive profitable growth and manage costs, and
we now have work to do to address “how” we
work so we can simplify and speed up decision
making.
For perspective on how we work toward that
goal and more, Cargill Voice turned to Vice
Chairman Paul Conway.
Cargill Voice: Paul, it has been a challenging
past few months for Cargill. What have we
accomplished so far with Fit to Grow, and is it
enough?
Paul: It is definitely not enough in terms of the
significant gap in our earnings and the “Fit” part
is dealing with the cost side, which is about 20
percent of the gap in our earnings. So what we
really need to do is drive our earnings harder.
Getting Fit to Grow is designed to help that.
It is absolutely clear, over the last couple of
years, that we have slightly lost track of what
we are trying to do. We have been so focused
on improving our processes to become more
connected that we have lost track a little bit of
the fact that the role of process is to drive better
results. Ultimately, getting Fit to Grow is about
improving our results, which in itself gives more
oxygen for growth. Remember, as a private
company we can spend what we make and what
we can borrow, and what we can borrow depends
4
on how much money we make. So Fit to Grow
is something that I like to think we would have
been doing even if our earnings hadn’t been
in decline, because it is about regaining some
agility, regaining proximity to the customer, and
making sure the processes help us get better
results rather than drive us.
Cargill Voice: We’ve heard a little about the
behavior changes we need to make, as well.
Can you share more about what those changes
are, and how we plan to make them happen?
Paul: I think the key behavior changes that I am
looking for are as follows:
Firstly, we need to keep Strategic Intent 2015
as our north star, as our goal, but that does
not mean that everyone accepts everything
in an unquestioning way. I know many of the
colleagues in China frequently raise questions,
and I am very happy that they will continue
to do so, because we’ve had too many people
just going along with the flow. Greg uses the
word “acquiescing,” which isn't known very
much outside of England or the U.S. It is people
DIALOGUE
desiring and understanding the goal of being
more standardized and therefore going along
with things that they really don't believe in.
So we want to get that healthy challenge, that
healthy tension. It is not corrosive friction, it is
healthy tension. That is the first thing.
The second thing is this appreciation of process.
The role of process is to drive better results,
period, and not process for process’s sake.
The third thing is something that I was told in
the first six months that I was with the company:
treat the company’s money as if it was your
own—that culture of frugality. It has been
difficult to maintain as we’ve become a very
large corporation, and it is linked back to that
questioning attitude again.
In terms of how we are going to make them
happen, first we are starting at the top of the
organization. We picked 18 initiatives that
are being reviewed. We have set up pairs of
Corporate Center members to review them with
the initiative’s champion. In some cases they
were modified, some were scaled back, some
were stopped completely. So it is not just the
ideas of people down in the businesses that
have been challenged about the what and the
how, it’s ideas that have come either from the
CLT or the Corporate Center. So we are very
much looking in the mirror on this stuff.
Cargill Voice: If you take a step back for a
moment and consider both our short-term and
long-term goals, what does Cargill aspire to be
as a result of those goals?
Paul: Cargill’s goals have not really changed.
We have extraordinary shareholders who are
willing to leave over 90% of the cash flow in
the company for us to grow, so if we perform
reasonably well, we will double the net worth
of this company every seven to eight years. The
direction that we want to go in is still SI 2015. It
is about being the partner of choice, customers
choosing us. It is about upping our game in
innovation, great people with imagination.
Then it is about the spirit of service in the world
that we serve, ag, food and risk management.
None of that has changed. It didn’t change in
the financial crisis when, like many companies,
5DIALOGUE
we hunkered down. It isn't changing now. As
we say, we are getting Fit to Grow. What we are
trying to do is get back to that, because there
was a sense that we had drifted away from it
somewhat.
As I talk to businesses and functions, there is a
sense of great sadness about the colleagues that
are having to leave the company, but excitement
about, yes, this is reenergizing. It is getting back
to where we drifted away from a little bit, and
just a great sense of excitement about that.
Cargill Voice: What else can we do to make
those aspirations a reality?
Paul: We need to have the right people, and in
China that means we are hiring for future needs.
We have recommitted, despite Fit to Grow, to
the work that we are doing for the Cargill brand
in China, not just for our current businesses,
but for the businesses that we hope to have
in 5, 10 and 20 years. I would say, and this is
very personal, I think we need to have a healthy
dissatisfaction with the status quo. One of the
biggest enemies to us achieving our aspirations
as we thought it would be. As we have done
that, it is also crystal clear that all platforms
have favored emerging markets in general,
and China in particular, in terms of the choices
that they make. We know that for Cargill to
continue to grow as we aspire to grow, we
have to increase the proportion in emerging
markets.
Cargill Voice: What might the next six to
twelve months look like for Cargill, and what
advice can you give Chinese employees as
they learn to navigate our new reality?
Paul: So the next six to twelve months in
Cargill, I expect us to be back on track, with re-
strengthened earnings, being able to accelerate
our growth again. We are very confident in
the portfolio. We are very confident in the
investments that we have made, and what
people call soft capital; so the people we have
hired and the people we have trained, believe
that that is a winning team.
In terms of advice, we are very clear. Despite
the downturn in earnings, we will not cut
is complacency. Certainly we’re having a
downturn in our results, so no one should be
complacent. We need to root out the spirit of
complacency wherever we find it. In China,
where there is very fast growth, and a highly
dynamic environment, I don't expect to see that
and I never do see it when I am there. Finally,
as Cargill China grows, our businesses there
have the great advantage that they can learn
from what has been done in North America and
Western Europe. People talk about telephones
in China. Nobody bothers having a landline,
so they have leapt a generation to mobile
technology. Similarly, our businesses in China
have an opportunity to leap a generation. That is
a huge advantage.
Cargill Voice: What impact, if any, might Fit
to Grow have on our strategy in emerging
markets, including China?
Paul: I think the impact on emerging markets,
including China, is very limited. It is crystal clear.
We are still spending a record amount of capital
this year, but we had to pull some of that back so
that the increase, the acceleration, isn't as great
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corners, either on Guiding Principles issues
or food safety issues. I want to make it clear
to all employees in China and elsewhere that
everything that we have said, that we believe
in, whether that is Guiding Principles, food
safety, diversity, we are serious about it. We
are holding to those despite the downturn in
earnings. Together with them, we can build a
great Cargill business in China.
DIALOGUE
Actions taken have set us on the right path to become a fitter and more agile Cargill
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SSC's Growth Plan in ChinaSSC aims to double revenue by 2020
Jerry Liu, Business Unit Leader, Cargill Starches & Sweeteners China
Since Oct, 2011, Jerry Liu has been the Business Unit
Leader of Cargill Starches & Sweeteners China
and a member of China Leadership Council. Jerry
is focused on business growth in Starches & Sweeteners
business unit and Jerry is the tag for talent
engagement in China.
As the first Chinese BU leader for Cargill China,
Jerry received interview by Cargill Voice to talk
about SSC’s developing strategy and his point of
view on FTG as well as people engagement and
etc.
Cargill Voice: What is the position Starches
and Sweeteners Cargill (SSC) in China’s food
ingredients industry? What are your strategic
plans for the BU? What are the aspects that
you believe to be our core competitiveness?
Jerry Liu: The main businesses of our BU are
corn starches and sweeteners. Our fructose and
maltdextrin is significantly positioned in the
segmented market we target with its profit and
supply volume being ranked in the top three
among carbonated beverages and international
infant milk powder, respectively.
As far as strategic planning, we are continuing
to expanding our investment in China in order
to keep up with the market’s rapid development
pace. Apart from assets in hand, we have
facilities in Pinghu and Songyuan being extended
with newly built production lines for fructose,
glucose syrup and malt dextrin.
In January 2012, the fructose project in Luohe,
Henan Province, began construction. In addition
to that, we are looking actively for appropriate
partners of starches and sweeteners in Northern
China and also in the coastal areas of Southern
China. By 2020, I expect that the overall revenue
of SSC to increase by 100%, reaching top two
in the industry, while profits growing from $10
million to $30 million. At present, our sweetener
business focuses on high-end international food
and beverage customers; however in the near
future, we will enter the other fields including
local food brands, biological fermentation and
the pharmaceutical industries.
Our present core competitiveness include:
reliability, quality, production safety, food safety
along with global relationships that enhance the
Cargill brand. We have identified our need to
develop more core competences so as to fulfill
the organization’s strategic goals. These include -
cost competitiveness to maintain consistent margins;
knowledge application along with enhancing
global technology; furthering R&D capabilities
in fermentation and milling technology; supply
chain; risk management; and a coordinated
customer approach. These additional core
competences under development are being
achieved by consistent adjustment within BU,
enhancing management’s capacity for efficiency
FEATURE STORY
8
and performance, as well as support from
headquarters and other relative BUs.
Cargill Voice: With the Fit to Grow strategy
that Cargill is practicing, what are some of
your ideas? How does Fit to Grow involve the
operations of a BU?
Jerry Liu: As many know, Cargill’s balance sheet
is consistently strong and Fit to Grow does not
mean that Cargill has any problems in profits. An
enterprise in stable development has to react in
time to any potential dangers or crisis within the
company. Fit to Grow is the immediate reaction
for Cargill. Fit to Grow is the strategy that lets
the company internally adjust effectively and
optimize processes. Considering China’s entire
environment, I believe Fit to Grow makes us
achieve China 2020 Aspiration better and faster.
For our SSC BU, Fit to Grow is reflected in three
aspects specifically:
First aspect is to seek actively for development
opportunities and to increase project investments,
as mentioned in my answer to the last question.
Secondly, to control costs. In China, enterprises
especially in the corn processing industry
are doomed to failure unless they attach
greater importance to cost controls. Our
profit changes as sugar prices and corn prices
fluctuate, however management costs are
fixed. If we’re unable to control costs, we will
face disadvantageous situations such as losing
market share or incurring substantial losses.
That’s why cost competence saves a company
from failure.
What I’ve personally noticed is that wastes on
projects are the greatest losses. Any mistaken
decision brings about millions and even tens
of millions of losses. In this way, we will make
full discussion over the practicality of projects,
make decisive determinations, and finish
project designing as soon as possible. We will
reasonably choose technologies and facilities, as
well as reduce costs for logistics and production.
By focusing on energy resources reductions,
it’ll allow us to make variable costs reach an
acceptable level.
What I want to emphasize is that financial
prudence has always been the key element to
Cargill’s success. Cargill spends only 70% of its
profit - which leaves us in a healthy position while
being ready to handle future development. We
think of economizing not only when we face
difficulties, we cultivate it as a habit even during
positive times. With frugality and carefully
thought-out expenditures, Cargill has proudly
operated for over 147 years. I know as we work
together, the next century brings a fresh evolution
of how we contribute to society’s global needs.
Finally, we aim to develop employee talent. In
whatever economic climate, talent development
is a crucial element for our company. With the
development of BU, increased postings are
urging appropriate talent to accept new jobs.
Therefore, developing the present team while
absorbing outside talent, are the means that will
allow us to succeed.
Cargill Voice: Would you please elaborate the
concept of connectivity between BUs that you
have proposed?
Jerry Liu: The connectivity and growing
FEATURE STORY
9
togetherness among BUs is one of the China
2020 aspirations. I bel ieve the effective
execution of this strategy will greatly improve
the business performance of one Cargill China.
SSC has been working very closely with CAN,
GOSC, CTS and Flavors in the past. We sell many
of our products to CAN plants in the Northeast.
We are working on building feed mills in
Songyuan. CTS has a lecithin plant on site at our
Tianjinplant. We co-located our industrial starch
plant on GOSC Nantong site. Flavors used to
have a plant on site of our Pinghu plant. Now
we are exploring other opportunities with CSA
to grow Cargill’s business together. We truly
hope there will be more connectivity with other
BUs in the near future, while seeking better
collaborative development.
Cargill Voice: Do you have some new concepts
for team construction of BU? What are the
types of employees that SSC prefers? What is
your long-term plan for talent development of
your team?
Jerry Liu: Cargill’s guiding principles are the
very foundation of our business and operations.
Every post requires two points: on one hand,
right direction; on the other, teamwork. Any
successful leader will say a great team is the key
to success. The overall capacity, attitude and
efforts of the team determine the success of a
BU.
So, what kind of talent do our teams need?
Firstly, a strong sense of responsibility and
fidelity. The members of the team should
maintain a high degree of loyalty to the company,
shouldering responsibilities related to the post;
never wavering in the face of setbacks; actively
thinking of solutions to problems; holding
a sense of urgency when dealing with crisis
situations.
Secondly, proficiency of the specialized field,
with a good working knowledge of present
developmental status in industry. Given the corn
processing industry has been exceptionally fierce
in competition nowadays; it requires stronger
proficiency and skills of each team member. A
team should only be led by someone who brings
deep insights and a profound outlook of the
industry. Team members should understand
the stages of corn processing; focusing both
on accumulating actual experience and while
testing theoretical leaning; chasing down sticky
points and doing a worthwhile job.
Thirdly, working attitude of practicality. We
are in the agricultural product processing
industry and it’s intensive in capital, fierce
in competition, rapid in development. This
requires us to understand every connecting link
in the value chain; comprehend and foretell the
demand of customers and feedback from the
market all without being divorced from reality.
Finally, developing talent is crucial. As Cargill’s
business continually develops in China, every
one of us has a great opportunity to develop.
We will need to bear greater risks and utilize our
talents. We will emphasize more on our newly-
recruited employees, offering sufficient training
and communication. When we notice problems,
we will point them out and give suggestions;
when facing challenges; we will encourage and
build our employees. Excessive talk and over-
hyped enthusiasm never serves anyone. It
FEATURE STORY
10
just spoils good character. However we should
never be so narrow in our approach such that it
hinders our young employees.
Cargill Voice: You are the very first Chinese
person to work as a BU leader in Cargill. Would
you share with employees your personal
growing experience and what makes you
succeed in Cargill? Do you have any suggestions
for Cargill’s young Chinese employees?
Jerry Liu: I have three short and distinct points
to share with my fellow Chinese employees:
Firstly, Plan your personal career. Having good
planning enables you to hold the long term view.
Focusing only on salary or work locations is short
sighted as you would miss many posts that bring
greater personal improvement and training
opportunities.
Secondly, Be more patient and avoid complaining.
Observe others’ advantages and seek to correct
your own personal weaknesses.
Thirdly, Care more, do a little extra than what’s
asked for and take pride in the work you do.
Believe me, it shows to everyone around you.
Cargill Voice: You conferred Excellent Youth
of Songyuan in 2011, and the award of RMB
60,000 was devoted to building the Cargill
Bio-Chemical Library. What is your opinion on
how to balance corporate responsibility and
commercial interest?
Jerry Liu: I believe it’s not so much of balancing
– but of being an extension of one another.
Corporate responsibility I feel is connected
closely to earnings. The reason for an enterprise
to drive good earnings is because only a healthy
company can give back to the community, its
surrounding neighborhoods and to its dedicated
employees. And in turn, the company is rewarded
by rich community closeness and meaningful
employee engagement. At SSC, the focus on
continuously developing our BU enables us
to be better equipped to make a difference in
this area. Any enterprise that struggles with
profitability, will inevitably neglect innovation,
community devotion and employee involvement.
It’s why I know that the healthy profit of an
enterprise is the very foundation of corporate
social responsibility. As an example, every
year, SSC donations support rural education by
helping establish sports facilities at schools and
by developing sports education. This is where
SSC steps in to help.
Personally I feel glad and grateful if I can do
something for our employees. Given the cultural
life in Songyuan is comparatively quiet to the
bustle of Shanghai, many of our colleagues
desire to learn, but the community lacks of
support.
FEATURE STORY
11BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND UPDATES
Cargill Specialty Asia
In order to better serve our specialty customers
in Asia and drive growth in the Asian market,
Cargill established the Cargill Specialty Asia
business unit, combining the Asian business units
of Cargill Texturizing Solutions and Cargill Health
& Nutrition (except Japan), in September. Yusuf
Wazirzada leads the new business unit.
“I am deeply honored to be a part of this team
and I believe we can build a very exciting future
together,” said Wazirzada. “The creation of the
business unit underscores Cargill’s commitment
and desire to grow in these markets.”
For the past few years, Cargill Texturizing
Solutions and Cargill Health & Nutrition have
realized significant growth in Asia, positioning
the new business unit for success. And according
to Wazirzada, the new business unit has a
distinct competitive advantage: its talent.
“We have inherited great people from two of
Cargill’s existing businesses and we have been
tasked to build CSA into another significant and
sustainable business for Cargill,” he said. “And
as the business grows, there will be growth
opportunities for our talent, as well.”
CSA employees have been working collaboratively
with their colleagues in CTS and CHN to plan
and execute a smooth transition to CSA. Their
transition work involves delivering on a set of
priorities, including:
•Delivering on the business unit ’s promise
internally and to its customers,
•Staying engaged and motivated during the
transition period (and beyond), and
•Undertaking an initial assessment of the future
direction of CSA in terms of the opportunities,
challenges and risks.
“From the standpoint of our customers, we need
to understand the synergies of our combined
talent and portfolios and how that enables us to
serve them better and create value for Cargill,”
said Wazirzada. “Some things will change, but
we will do what is best from a business, team,
and customer standpoint and leverage the great
talent pool we have.”
CAPC Anhui project received business license
After three years of effort, on December 21,
2011, Cargill Animal Protein achieved a major
milestone - it received its business license in
Chuzhou Anhui province, which means the legal
entity for the Chuzhou (Anhui) project is officially
established.
“We overcame great challenges to attain the
business permit,” explained Chris Langholz,
Business Unit Leader of Cargill Animal Protein
China (CAPC), “Our project is one of the largest
single investments in Chinese agriculture. It
is not easy for the government, including the
Environmental Bureau, to understand the
complexity of what we are trying to accomplish.”
“We believe this project is an example of terrific
teamwork by not only the CAPC team, but
also the broader Cargill team in China. These
teams demonstrated the power of one Cargill
working together to tackle a large and complex
project that has significant importance to our
CAPS platform, as well as the customers who
12BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND UPDATES
believe in Cargill,” said Jerry Rose, Corporate Vice
President.
Having a fully integrated business will allow
Cargill to have better control over food safety
practices in the supply chain. The $200 million
investment will employ 5,000 people and is
the latest example of Cargill’s efforts to help
modernize agricultural and food safety practices
in China.
Now that the business has acquired the license,
the next step is to complete the project promptly
in order to deliver the commitment to customers
on time.
SSC holds cornerstone laying ceremony in LuoheAt Luohe, a county-level city in central Henan
province, the cornerstone-laying ceremony
of Cargil l Food (Luohe) Company Ltd was
unveiled on January 12th, 2012. With over half
a year’s dedicated efforts, Cargill Starches and
Sweeteners China (SSC) acquired business license
and officially established Cargill Food (Luohe)
Company Ltd on December 16th, 2011.
“Today marks an exciting milestone for the
successful partnership between Cargill, Luohe
and our customers,” said Jerry Liu, Business
Unit Leader of Cargill Starches and Sweeteners
China (SSC), “We have been working together
towards the same goals of upgrading food safety
standards, promoting sustainable development
of the Chinese food ingredients industry, and
propelling the industry to a new height in China.”
Beginning back in the summer of 2011, staff
from SSC visited the Luohe development zone to
research potential strategic benefits of locating a
plant in the city. After in-depth investigation and
fruitful negotiations, on September 15th, SSC
signed an agreement with the Luohe government
for the construction of a new fructose facility.
This signified a historical step forward to the
success of the entire project.
With a planned completion by June of 2013,
the total investment for the project will reach
US$67.4 million and have an annual fructose
output of 0.24 million tons. The project facility is
located adjacent to Cargill’s key customers and
partners like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Uni-President.
This ensures that we will provide greater value
and more efficient service to our customers.
The cornerstone laying ceremony of Cargill Food(Luohe)Company Ltd.
13BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND UPDATES
Acquisition of Provimi
On November 22 2011, Cargill completed its
strategic investment to acquire Provimi, a global
animal nutrition company, for an enterprise value
of Euro $1.5 billion (US $2.1 billion). By building
on the existing strengths of the two companies,
we are creating a global leader in animal nutrition
with the ability to offer the broadest array of
products, services and capabilities.
We welcomed more than 7,000 new employees
to the Cargill family, and the new business brings
together the complementary animal nutrition
expertise and operations of Cargill and Provimi.
In China, there are three facilities, located in
Ganyu (Jiangsu Province), Nanning (Guangxi
Province) and Banan (Chongqing City), with
altogether 241 employees.
Cargill’s core expertise in compound feed, supply
chain and risk management will come together
with Provimi’s wide range of nutritional expertise,
technology and portfolio of premix, additives and
ingredients to deliver an unrivalled full service
offering to customers worldwide. Together our
new animal nutrition business benefits from
a global network spanning 37 countries and
employing more than 16,000 people in 250
facilities around the world, as well as a wide
ranging portfolio of products serving all the
major segments of the animal nutrition industry.
A new animal nutrition platform, called Cargill
Animal Nutrition, will include two business
units – Cargill Premix & Nutrition (CPN) and
Cargill Feed & Nutrition (CFN). The platform that
comprises our animal protein and salt businesses
is renamed the Cargill Animal Protein & Salt
(CAPS) platform.
Sale of flavors business
Cargill completed the sale of its global flavors
business to Kerry, the ingredients, flavors and
consumer foods group, on Dec. 4, 2011.
Cargill and Kerry Group announced in July 2011
that they were holding exclusive discussions
and a definitive sales agreement was signed on
September 22. After obtaining clearance from
competition authorities, Cargill and Kerry were
able to conclude the transaction.
Kerry Group is a leading global food ingredients
and flavors provider and a leading consumer
foods processor in the UK and Irish markets.
Through its manufacturing, technical and
customer service facilities spread throughout
23 countries across EMEA, American and Asia-
Pacific markets, Kerry partners with customers
globally to provide ingredients and flavors
solutions across all food and beverage end-use
markets.
The deal included flavors business activities in
22 countries and production facilities in Europe,
North America and Asia. The sale involved the
transfer of around 700 Cargill employees to Kerry
Group. The juice blends and compounds activities
were not included in this sale, remaining within
Cargill.
14REPUTATION IN CHINA
Cargill holds S&D seminar with key government stakeholders
From November 21st to 23rd 2011, Cargill held five sessions
of an agricultural products supply & demand (S&D)
seminar respectively with the National Development
and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Finance
(MOF), State Administration of Grain (SAG), General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine(AQSIQ) and Ministry of Commerce
(MOFCOM). During the sessions, senior managers from
Cargill World Trading Unit (WTU) and Grain and Oilseeds
Supply Chain Great China & Korea (GOSC) shared
analysis on supply and demand of soybean, corn and
wheat in the global and China market, and exchanged
opinions with attendees on trend of agricultural
products global trading.
The sessions received full recognition from the
attendees. In particular, the session with AQSIQ
marks the first time that this ministry has had in-
depth discussion and technical exchange with
multinational companies. Hosted by head of
the department of animal and plant quarantine
supervision, the session gathered from nationwide
over 50 officials, who provided positive feedbacks
that the session helped them gain a systematic
understanding of global agricultural product
market. The officials were impressed by Cargill
team’s expertise and dedication to the business
they serve. Attendees from other ministries also
extended heart-felt gratitude for Cargill arranging
this seminar and expressed the interest that they
are looking for more opportunities proactively in
the future for information sharing and cooperation
in other businesses with Cargill.
“We are proud that we can share our global
experience with key stakeholders. It is one of our
effective approach to participate in and support the
development of China,” said Robert Aspell, Cargill
China President, who is the initiator of this seminar,
“Along with enhanced government relations,
Cargill has made progress towards building mutual
understanding with the Chinese government and
helping shape freedom to operate in China.”
The seminar was coordinated by Corporate
Affairs team who worked closely with GOSC and
WTU teams in a bid to deliver a quality seminar.
During the six months’ preparation, the Cargill
team conducted several rounds of conversation
with government stakeholders, in order to better
understand their needs. They also discussed agenda
and content of the seminar, and worked on detailed
presentation that addresses the stakeholders’ most
interested topics. With first-hand S&D dynamics,
multi-dimensional analysis and systematic models,
the team demonstrated Cargill’s integrated strength
in cross-region industry chain management and
reinforced the image of Cargill as an industry leader
with global experience and technical expertise.
“The seminar helped us successfully establish
reputation of Cargill China amongst central-
level government agencies,” said Shelly Shi,
Vice President, Corporate Affairs Cargill China,
“Meanwhile, we had better understanding of the
government stakeholders and related policies. We
will continue this program that could bring us a
win-win outcome.”
The S&D seminar received full recognition from the attendees
15REPUTATION IN CHINA
Cargill leverages Guangdong government meetings to enhance reputation
Guangdong is one of the most important provinces
in Cargill’s footprint within China. Four business
units, including Cargill Animal Nutrition, Refined
Oils China & Malaysia, and Cargill Grain & Oilseeds
Supply Chain Great China & Korea, have their
operations centers in Guangdong. Cargill China
has always attached great importance to the
relationship with Guangdong provincial government
and every year, arranges and participates in
meetings with the Guangdong government.
On September 29-30, the business conference
on cooperation between Guangdong province
and the fortune global 500 companies and large
overseas enterprises was held in Guangzhou.
This grand event, which was co-organized by
the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and
Guangdong provincial government, provides
a good communication platform for both the
government and 280 multinational companies.
During this event, Mr. Wang Yang, Member of
Politburo of CPC Central Committee and Secretary
of CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, and
Mr. Huang Huahua, Vice Secretary of Guangdong
Provincial Committee, Governor of Guangdong
Province jointly hosted a small group meeting,
in which only eight multinational companies.
At this meeting, Cargill China President Robert
Aspell gave introduction on progress of Cargill’s
businesses in Guangdong, including Grain and
Oilseeds Supply Chain, Refined Oils, Animal
Nutrition as well as Ferrous. Moreover, Robert
shared Cargill long-term growth vision in China,
and he also provided suggestions on how to
further improve operation environment in
Guangdong.
In addition, Refined Oils China & Malaysia (ROCM)
signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU)
with Dongguan government for investment in
a specialty fats project; as well as Cargill Animal
Nutrition signed a MOU with Yangjiang government
for an aqua feed project.
At an appreciation luncheon hosted by the Guangdong
government on September 29, Robert introduced Cargill
China and 24 business units’ development progress
in China, when meeting with Mr. Wang Chao, Vice
Minister of MOFCOM and Ms. Ma Xiuhong, former
Vice Minister of MOFCOM and director-general of
China Foreign Trade Center.
On September 30, the Environment Introduction
and Promotion Meeting of Guangdong Eastern
and Northwest Region was held in Guangzhou. In
attendance of this meeting were mayors and vice
mayors of 17 cities. Cargill was the only multinational