Cargill Continues Investing in Colombia with Campollo Purchase

U.S. agricultural giant Cargill has acquired Campollo, one of Colombia’s larger producers of chicken and protein products. This comes just 18 months after Cargill purchased Pollos Bucanero in June 2017, indicating Cargill’s significant interest in the Colombian market.

Jorge Ivan Duque, general manager of Cargill’s Pollos Bucanero, will continue leading Cargill’s expanded poultry business in Colombia. Duque has spent the past 13 years working in the poultry sector in Central America and Colombia. Campollo will expand Cargill’s protein business in Latin America, which includes businesses in Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

“We are committed to this region and I’m thrilled to expand our operations in Colombia,” said Xavier Vargas, president of Cargill Protein Latin America. “Our markets and communities will benefit as we bring our teams together. Cargill will bring its experience working in protein across four continents for more than 50 years to deliver customers and consumers consistent, high-quality products tailored to local flavors.”

Cargill will absorb Campollo’s more than 2,500 employees, which will bring the number of total Cargill employees in Colombia to more than 7,500. Cargill Global Poultry has more than 35,000 employees across 14 countries, and Cargill as a whole employs 155,000 people across 70 countries.

“As a Colombian, I’m proud we are strengthening the way we serve our customers and helping even more communities prosper. Campollo reaches millions of customers across the country. The acquisition complements and enhances our product portfolio and expands our current reach to more of the Colombian market. I’m confident this will be a smooth integration that will benefit our employees, customers, consumers and communities,” Duque said.

Cargill is the world’s largest privately held company, with reported annual revenues of over $109 billion USD.

Source: PRnewswire. Photo credit: Loren Moss