Cargill Sells Interest in Spanish Olive Oil Joint Venture to Dcoop

17 Oct 2014 --- Cargill has concluded an agreement to sell its 50 per cent interest in Mercaóleo, the Spanish olive oil business, to its joint venture partner Dcoop, the Spanish cooperative group. Details of the agreement are not being disclosed.

Dcoop now assumes full ownership of Mercaóleo, the 50:50 joint venture established between Cargill and Dcoop in 2007. This includes the olive oil bottling plant at Antequera, near Malaga providing private label bottling products and which currently employs around 20 people. As part of the agreement, Cargill and Dcoop have signed a mutual supply and distribution agreement where Cargill will continue as the exclusive distributor of bottled private label olive oil for some retail markets in Europe.

Paul Naar, executive vice president of Cargill’s food ingredients business in Europe commented: “Dcoop’s expertise in olive oil provides a better opportunity for the future of growth of this business and will enable us to continue to focus on offering a range of high-quality oils to our customers.”

José Moreno, President of Dcoop, said: “This joint venture has provided a strong foundation and we are now looking forward to developing our growth and continuing to offer high quality olive oil products to customers around the world.”