Cargill to re-enter packaged food business

KOLKATA: US agri-business conglomerate Cargill plans to re-enter the packaged food market in India with staples and cereals over the next two years to become an integrated food ingredient company, a senior official said.

“We have ambitions to become a large food company in India, especially in food ingredient,” Cargill India chairman Siraj A Chaudhry said. The $119.5-billion company plans to extend its edible oil brands Nature Fresh and Sweekar, which it recently acquired from Marico, to the packaged food segment.

Cargill is also exploring the option of acquisition of packaged staples brands, Chaudhry told ET on the sidelines of an event organised by IIFT and FIEO.

“We are amongst the largest suppliers of domestic and imported food grains to the private sector and government. We would leverage such linkages to grow in consumer space,” he said.