Cargill breaks ground to construct first cocoa processing plant in Asia

Cargill broke ground on a USD 100 m investment to construct a state-of-the-art cocoa processing facility in Gresik, in the East-Java region of Indonesia. Cargill stated that the new facility is to meet the growing demand amongst customers for cocoa products and to encourage the development of the Asian cocoa sector. The new facility will be Cargill’s first cocoa processing plant in Asia and demonstrates the company’s commitment to develop and grow the Asian cocoa industry.

The investment will also strengthen the company’s Indonesian cocoa sourcing network and cocoa sustainability activities. Cargill will create approximately 200 new jobs in Indonesia, as well as additional positions in its existing R&D application centres in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, and in the company’s commercial network, which it is strengthening to better serve the needs of customers in Asia. This facility, which is expected to be operational by mid-2014, will process approximately 70,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans into a broad range of tailored products for customers in the Asian market. These products will include high quality cocoa liquor and butter, as well as Cargill’s premium quality Gerkens® cocoa powders.

The new facility is part of Cargill’s growth strategy in Indonesia’s cocoa sector and one strand of the company’s efforts to support long-term sustainable cocoa production globally. Through the “Cargill Cocoa Promise”, the company is growing and sustaining cocoa farming communities while meeting the growing global demand for sustainable cocoa beans by focusing on three areas: training farmers, supporting farming communities and investing in the long-term sustainable production of cocoa.

www.cargill.com