Cargill, the world’s largest privately owned food processor, is taking steps to “de-commoditize,” says the Financial Times, so it can satisfy interest among consumers for natural food, meaning non-GMO ingredients or food grown under specific production methods. Marcel Smits, Cargill chief financial officer, says the additional costs of creating a separate channel for a particular product, such as GMO-free corn syrup, are offset by higher profit margins.
“The fragmentation of our industry is de-commoditizing agricultural supply chains. That’s not going to change. It’s really good news for Cargill, by the way,” Smits said in an interview with the FT. Cargill is one of the largest beef processors in North America, said the FT, and it says its production methods are so precise it can “keep the meat of 20 animals separate all the way through, to the box that it ultimately goes into.”