Cargill is to strengthen its presence in the Indian market by expanding its bakery ingredients, food services, and fortified oil categories. Cargill has identified these three focus areas to grow their business in India as people have become more health conscious and reliant on home-cooked meals as a result of the pandemic.
Piyush Patnaik, managing director of Cargill’s edible oil business in India, said, “Pandemic has changed the way people look at food. Two things are happening. People want a higher quotient of health and nutrition in their food basket. They might not be able to stay away from fried food, so they want healthy oil. Second, people now want a specific amount of supplements. So, supplementing through our products is one thing that we are looking into.
Also, Patnaik added that despite disruptions due to COVID in the last 24 months, they had witnessed robust performance and reasonable growth. We have invested in our Indian operations through automating our plants and through our acquisition in south India. Our total investments in the current calendar year are expected to be around Rs.120 crore.
Cargill considers India a big market, and the company is looking to continuously invest in India. It plans to bring our global portfolio of food ingredients to India. They also have plans to add further refining capacities to our existing plants.
Cargill has recently acquired an edible oil refinery located in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. Cargill’s US $35 million investment to acquire and upgrade the facility will significantly expand its edible oil production capacity and footprint in southern India and strengthen its existing supply chain to meet growing customer demand. The facility is expected to be fully operational by May 2022.
Patnaik said, “We have driven significant growth in our edible oil business in India over the last few years. This acquisition propels our expansion, specifically in southern India, and demonstrates our commitment to India and our customers in the country. “