Cargill links up with Japanese food industry titans to scale food solutions for Asia

17 Oct 2022 --- Cargill, hydrocolloids specialist Unitec Foods and sugar manufacturer Fuji Nihon Seito Corporation are joining forces to boost innovation and go-to-market for food ingredients solutions in Japan and Asia-Pacific region. 

Unitec Foods is an exclusively owned subsidiary of Fuji Nihon Seito Corporation. Cargill has been in partnership with Unitec Foods since 1972 to grow its pectin business in the Japanese market.

“We are very pleased to expand our partnership with Unitec to jointly address broader markets in Asia Pacific, especially Southeast Asia. We are honored with the trust and solid partnership that has been built for the past 50 years,” says Ming Peng, managing director of Cargill starches, sweeteners and texturizers in Asia.

“The renewed cooperation will allow us to exchange expertise and technical know-how in the area of food ingredients solutions to better serve customers both in Japan and Asia Pacific."

Joining forces on production and distribution
Under a new memorandum of understanding, the three companies will collaborate on technical, operational and commercial initiatives. In commercial initiatives, the companies will be jointly utilizing each of their production capabilities and distribution channels across Japan and the broader Asian market.

Cargill has been in partnership with Unitec Foods since 1972 to grow their pectin business in the Japanese market.This includes co-development of new product/technology integrating expertise and technical know-how from the Cargill Innovation Center in Singapore as well as Unitec Foods’ development facilities in Japan. 

“The eating habit of consumers have undergone significant changes in the past 50 years, and pectin is now widely used in a large variety of desserts,” remarks Shinichi Sekita, president director, Unitec Foods.

“Foods produced with pectin can be easily accessed by consumers in department stores and convenience stores. As we enter the new partnership, we will expand our collaboration with Cargill to pursue further possibilities of food ingredient solutions and expand our domestic competitive advantage across Asia-Pacific.”

Cargill’s global food pipeline
In recent business developments at Cargill, the company linked up with two other key global food players, Givaudan and Bühler, to form a consortium in collaboration with the Food Tech Hub LATAM and Institute of Food Technology. The trio will build a “Tropical Food Innovation Center” in the city of Campinas, recognized as Brazil’s tech powerhouses. 

The company has planned to build a soybean processing facility in the US with an annual capacity of 62 million bushels to meet the domestic and global demand for oilseeds. It will break ground on the project early next year, with plans to be operational in 2026.

The agri-food giant strengthened its position in rapid chocolate development and consumer-centric gourmet offerings with the grand opening of the House of Chocolate last summer. The new end-to-end center is located in Mouscron, Belgium, alongside its existing chocolate production plant and a stone’s throw away from its cake and chocolates decorations business. 

By Benjamin Ferrer