Cargill makes chocolate in Brazil
Valor Econômico - 11/22/2007
American Cargill, the largest cocoa processing industry in Latin America, has decided to increase its operations in Brazil, following the same business structure it has already adopted in the United States and in Europe for at least 25 years. A few days ago, the company started the production of chocolates and chocolate-like products in the newly set up plant in Porto Ferreira (SP), where it already has the business unit of starches and sweeteners. Technically, only the product that contains cocoa butter and cocoa mass (liquor) is considered chocolate. The chocolate-like products, also known in the market as "compounds", are produced with another vegetable fat and cocoa powder - which provide them taste and appearance similar to chocolate. The new unit will produce mainly chocolate-like products and, at a lower scale, chocolate. The products will be sold directly to food industries in buckets, 2-kilogram bars, pieces (25-kilogram bags), and drops. The raw materials (butter, mass, and cocoa powder) will be supplied by the Cargill plant in Ilhéus (BA) which processes 80 thousand tons of cocoa per year. The transportation from one unit to the other will be made through highways. "Porto Ferreira was chosen due to its nearness to the starch and sweetener unit and for being in a sugar producer region, the other three ingredients used in the plant", remarks Saskia Korink, Executive Officer of Cargill's Cocoa and Chocolate business unit. The closeness to the food industries (main customers) was also taken into consideration. The unit received investments of nearly US$ 5 million and is capable of processing 10 thousand tons of products a year. In the first year of operations, Cargill plans to use up to 30% of this capacity. The whole production will be sold under the Cargill trademark - the same used for the cocoa products - and sold exclusively to industries that operate in the Brazilian market. According to the Executive Officer, in the future the unit will also be able to provide products for the industries that operate in the neighboring countries. According to a research made by the Brazilian association of Chocolates, Cocoa, Peanut, Candy and Derivatives Industry (Abicab), the Brazilian chocolate market is registering, in 2007, one of the best performances of its history. The production is estimated in 304 thousand tons, 22.5% greater than last year's. Revenue is expected to grow 33%, to R$ 3.6 billion (US$ 2.1 billion).