Cargill Expands Reach in Latin America with Acquisition of Colombian Chicken Company Pollos El Bucanero

U.S.-based corporation Cargill has acquired Colombian chicken and meat producer Pollos El Bucanero S.A. in a move that represents the conglomerate’s entry into the Colombian protein market.

The company will be run by Jorge Ivan Duque and operate as an arm within the larger Cargill Protein Latin America, a regional provider focused on the Central American market with companies in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras. Duque said that “we are confident that this will be a smooth integration.”

By acquiring Pollos El Bucanero, a company founded in Candelaria near the city of Cali with more than three decades of history in the Colombian food industry, “Cargill is starting a new stage in Colombia under the Bucanero brand,” said Duque. The company works with more than 170 farms in the country and employs approximately 5,000 workers, according to Cargill.

Cargill, which is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, says that adding Bucanero brings the company’s total number of employees within Latin America to 35,000. “We are thrilled to expand our operations in Latin America,” said Xavier Vargas, president of Cargill Protein Latin America.

Vargas believes that the experience that Cargill has in other food markets across the world will help it add more value to Bucanero after the transition. “This global presence, and our extensive work in other regions of Latin America, provides us a wealth of expertise in quality standards and an understanding of cultural taste differences,” said Vargas.