Cargill's concept of cocreating growth and moving beyond single ingredients
14 Dec 2023 | Cargill
René Berendse, marketing associate director Enablement & Operations at Cargill, discusses cocreating growth with partners and helping customers address challenges, identify new business opportunities and innovate. He explains how NPD, overcoming formulation challenges, including working on clean label and sustainability solutions, forms a big part of what the company does. He also addresses digital technologies like AI.
This is Gaya for Food ingredients first at FIE 2023.
I'm at the Cargill stand with Renee.
Hi Renee, good morning.
Thanks for joining me today.
Thank you for joining us.
So let's talk about the concept that you guys have got at this year's show.
This year is all about co-creating growth because we realized that a lot of the people and the mindset of Visitors here ultimately they are often not looking just for a single ingredient, but ultimately it's about helping them to address their challenges that they have and identifying new business opportunities.
And in that sense Cargill is really we believe and that's also what we hear are best positioned to do that and a lot of the product development starts also with a question, a question on the minds of people coming.
Coming in here and we are able to take it from there.
It's maybe not always fair to compare to others, but you will see as you go further down the hole it's often about single ingredients, but we know that in our industry it's not about a single ingredient.
It's about addressing challenges, innovating to new heights, and that's also what you see here in the outer ring of our stand, the experts that truly know how ingredients interact.
And are able to address those challenges.
So co-creating growth is really the word that we're trying to get out there, and it's an open invitation to the people that have an interest in working with us.
You mentioned innovating to new heights.
That's a vital part of your strategy, right?
Absolutely, yes, and not just of ours, but also of our customers, because ultimately new product development or any changes.
In product formulations, that is what is driving a lot of business for our customers also.
So constantly looking at whether it's about reducing costs or more sustainable or cleaner label, all of those things they are equally relevant.
So depending on what customers are looking for throughout the different categories, we believe that we are best set up to address those needs throughout our food solutions offering.
Including all the capabilities that we have that we can bring to the table.
How do you move beyond being just an ingredients supplier?
It's It's different things, but if you're customer driven in any shape or form, which is the base of being successful in our industry, it's the only way.
So listening to the customers and identifying their needs and then organizing yourselves around those needs and addressing those needs.
And then often it's not about a single ingredient.
We have the broadest portfolio in the industry, which is a firm base, so we have the depth of the knowledge and then ultimately we are also best able.
Address any questions that typically work across those ingredients and knowing how those ingredients interact interact.
What are you seeing from your customers?
What sort of trends are they involved in?
What sort of ingredients do they want to work with?
And we'll be doing a tour later on also so you can see some of the examples.
We have 19 prototypes, but it's a broad range of the requests that we receive and it's also very much in line.
With the insights that we have on our industry, so what's driving our industry, what's driving consumer behavior, and then it's both, and it's very much still plant-based.
It's a big topic on our stand, but you also, on the other hand, you will also see things that I personally very much also still like.
There's also many opportunities in the indulgence segment, so it's both.
It's not one or the other.
It's actually all of those, and I believe truly.
We are best best able to address those.
And just what about the market dynamics at the moment?
Is there anything, any particular opportunities that you're looking at that are emerging into next year?
Anything that you've got your eye on?
We talk about, we hear a lot about AI, for example, and things like this, you know, new digital technologies.
Is that something that perhaps you might be involved in?
Just 2 weeks ago I was in a discussion with our global vice president for global IT.
AI is a big topic, but it stretches across our company because it's from the insides piece just helping to identify and making sure that we stay ahead of the curve, through which we are also able to help others stay ahead of the curve, but also in the whole research and development phase, AI.
AI is becoming a trusted partner also in modeling.
So AI here to stay, something to be figured out, but already being very helpful and very much high on our agenda.
It's in the early stages and we can see a lot more from it.
If I say early stages, it's like we just discovered it.
That's not it.
But the possibilities, the application of the The technology that is the thing to discover, but we already identified, like I said, it's in many areas.
It's in market research, but also in actually product development or taste profile predictions.
It can be anything.
So it's technology, but also something that is very close to the consumer already.
Rene, how about the sustainability trend?
It's becoming more and more important.
How do you think that evolves?
Yes, and not even so much a trend, but really something that's here to stay and a A business enabler and we like it that way.
Also, if you see the long history that Cargill has had in making impact with sustainability at scale, because if you want to make an impact on sustainability, you will want to work with us.
We will want to work with also our customers to enable that, and many of the people entering the.
Floor here will have their sustainability goals in the back of their mind, and they are looking for partners to help them achieve and advance sustainability also even beyond the goals that they have in mind now.
And in that sense, I think that's also a true differentiator for Cargill, but also for the trade show here, the way we are able to help our customers.
We have 3.
Desks also where people can start to talk about a life cycle analysis, do the calculations on specific formulations to see what they can actually claim front of pack.
So it's more than just a pretty picture of sustainability.
It's actually how do we bring that into product development, and that is something that is definitely featured on our booth.
