Cargill Inc
Careers at Cargill Inc
MISSION
Cargill Inc (“Cargill”) aims to bring high-quality food, agricultural, financial, and industrial products to people who need them all around the world.
FOUNDING STORY
Cargill was founded in 1865 by William w. Cargill when he acquired a grain flat house in Conover, Iowa. His brother Sam Cargill later joined the business, which became known as W W Cargill and Brother, and the two brothers went on to build a number of other grain houses, as well as open a lumberyard. In 1875, they were joined by a third brother, James Cargill, with whom they moved the business to La Crosse, Wisconsin. The business expanded such that it required a management office to be opened in emerging grain centre Minneapolis, which Sam Cargill began managing in 1887. In 1890, the Minneapolis office formally incorporated under the name Cargill Elevator Company. Several years later, the brothers’ La Crosse business also incorporated under the name W W Cargill Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Cargill incorporated under its current name in 1930. Following its formal incorporation, the company set about expanding its operations internationally, opening offices in Winnipeg, Canada; Rotterdam, Holland; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. After some setbacks caused by the Second World War, Cargill began to diversify its business, acquiring soybean meal and oilseed processing businesses. The company also continued it international expansion. Cargill has since expanded significantly, now offering a range of products and services spanning financial services, agriculture, food and beverage, health and beauty, transportation, and pharmaceuticals. The company has a presence across the Americas, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, and employs more than 150,000 workers worldwide.
Business model of Cargill Inc
CUSTOMER SEGMENTS
Cargill serves a broad range of customers across its operating sectors. The company’s customers typically operate in one or more of the following sectors:
- Farming and Agriculture, including independent farmers, agricultural companies, meat and poultry companies, and food and commodities producers;
- Foodservice, including restaurants, fast food chains, specialist catering companies, and cafeteria operators – including in schools, hospitals, and prisons;
- Retail and Consumer, including consumer packaged goods companies, food and grocery retailers, and wholesalers and distributors; and
- Industrial, including metals producers and processers, oil companies, chemical and lubricants companies, and road maintenance companies.
Cargill has operations across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The company’s largest market is North America, which accounts for around 35% of its revenue, followed by Asia Pacific, which accounts for around 29%, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which accounts for 25%.
VALUE PROPOSITIONS
Cargill provides value to its customers in the following ways:
- Brand Recognition and Reputation – Cargill has a positive track record that dates back to the nineteenth century, the company is among the largest and most respected companies in its field and is able to attract business on the strength of its reputation;
- Broad Portfolio of Products and Services – Cargill offers a broad range of products and services, its offering spanning multiple industries, including the industrial, agricultural, and consumer goods, and foodservice industries;
- Expertise and Experience – Cargill employs experienced and well-trained management personnel and technical that help to set the company’s offerings apart from those of its competitors, and has the ability to attract the best candidates for its various internal roles;
- Provision of Industry Insights – Cargill offers its customers a wide range of insights and data through its proprietary databases, including data analytics, risk management data, market insights, and financial solutions that support the operations of its clients; and
- Global Operations and Reach – Cargill has a broad geographic reach, including operations across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, that enables it to serve a large customer base quickly and efficiently.
CHANNELS
Cargill provides it products and services directly to customers. The company employs an extensive sales team that is organised by operating segment and by geographic regions, and operates out of the company’s offices across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
Cargill seeks to establish longstanding relationships with its clients by providing high-quality, reliable, and efficient services its operating segments. The company works closely with its customer, offering sales and service contracts that are tailored to their individual needs. The company employs teams of customer service and relationship management personnel that ensure that its customers are served quickly and efficiently. It is through this effective service the quality of its products that the company attracts recurring business.
Cargill operates a website at www.cargill.com through which it provides information to customers on a self-service basis. This includes product information, contact information, and information on its operating locations. The company is additionally able to communicate directly with customers through its various social media accounts, including with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
KEY ACTIVITIES
Cargill is a diversified multinational conglomerate. Through its subsidiaries, it is engaged in the delivery of food, agriculture, financial, and industrial products and services to a global customer base. Cargill organises its operations into four reportable business segments: Animal Nutrition and Protein, through which the company produces and sells livestock and poultry products, feed additives, micronutrients, and pre-mixes for customised animal nutrition; Food Ingredients and Applications, through which the company produces and sells food ingredients including cocoa, chocolate, edible oils, starches, salt, and sweeteners; Origination and Processing, through which the company provides data and analysis, market insights, and other origination solutions; and Industrial and Financial Services, through which the company provides financial and risk management services. Cargill was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It has operating locations in Africa, the Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America.
KEY PARTNERS
Cargill works with a broad network of partner companies in its development and delivery of high-quality products and services. These partners can be organised broadly into the following categories:
- Supplier and Vendor Partners, including suppliers of raw materials and equipment for the company’s production operations, as well as providers of other services that support the company’s corporate operations;
- Distribution Partners, including logistics companies that support the company’s storage, warehousing, and distribution operations;
- Technology Partners, including various technology, data analytics, and software companies that work with the company in delivering effective market and industry insights;
- Community and Sustainability Partners, including a range of charitable and non-profit organisations with which the company collaborates on community projects and on developing sustainable products and solutions; and
- Strategic and Alliance Partners, including a range of other companies and organisations with which the company works on projects such as business development, marketing, strategy, and branding.
Cargill currently has sustainability partnerships with organisations including Gastromotiva, TechnoServe, and The Nature Conservancy, as well as community partnership with Feeding America and Second Harvest Heartland.
KEY RESOURCES
Cargill’s ability to provide high-quality products and services quickly and efficiently is key to its continuing business operations. As such, the company’s key resources are its materials and equipment, its supply chain and logistics infrastructure, its production facilities, its technologies, its partnerships, its personnel, and its international network of offices.
COST STRUCTURE
Cargill incurs costs in relation to the procurement of equipment and materials, the operation of its production facilities, the management of its logistics and distribution infrastructure, the management of its partnerships, the payment of salaries and benefits to its personnel, and the operation of its international network of offices – including the payment of rental and utility fees.
REVENUE STREAMS
Cargill generates revenue through the delivery of a broad range of products and services. The company derives this revenue primarily under sales and service contracts that are agreed directly with clients. In 2017, Cargill generated revenue for the year in the amount of USD 114.7 billion, up from 5 percent on the previous year. The largest contributor to the company’s overall revenue figures is its Animal Nutrition and Protein segment.
Our team
info: Dave MacLennan (“MacLennan”) has served as Chief Executive Officer of Cargill since 2013. He was first elected to the company’s Board of Directors in 2008. He is the 9th CEO since Cargill was founded in 1865, and has responsibility for leading the company’s overall strategic direction. MacLennan first joined Cargill in 1991, working in the company’s Financial Markets Division, and ultimately as the division’s Chief Financial Officer. He later moved to Geneva, where he led Cargill Energy, before assuming responsibility for Cargill Protein and later, Food Ingredients. In 2008, he was appointed Cargill’s Chief Financial Officer, following which he served as Chief Operating Officer from 2011. Prior to joining Cargill, MacLennan worked in the futures and securities sector in Chicago. He was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and Board of Options Exchange, and worked at USBancorp Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis.
info: David Dines (“Dines”) currently serves as Cargill’s Senior Vice President and Head of Risk Management, leading the company’s commodity risk and financial risk operations. He also oversees the operations of Cargill Metals and Shipping. In December 2018, Dines will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer, taking responsibility for the company’s global financial management operations. Dines is a long-serving Cargill employee. He joined the company in 1994, when he helped launch Cargill Risk Management. He served as president of that business from 1999 to 2010, and again from 2017. Prior to joining Cargill, Dines was a long-serving employee of Deutsche Bank, where he held a number of roles, including a spell as Vice President.
info: Marcel Smits (“Smits”) has served as Cargill’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 2013. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s global financial management activities. In December 2018, he will be replaced in this role by Dines and will assume leadership of the company’s Asia Pacific operations. Smits has held a number of roles at Cargill, including spells as Chief Compliance Officer, Regional Director for Latin America, and Head of the Trade and Capital Markets group. Prior to joining Cargill, Smits held senior executive positions at Sar Lee, including consecutive spells as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer. Before his time at Sara Lee, Smits served as Chief Financial Officer at KPN and Vendex KBB in the Netherlands, and served in a variety of financial management positions for Unilever in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
