A HISTORY OF INTEGRITY, POSITIONED FOR GROWTH
Bunge North America was established in New York City in 1923. Now headquartered in St. Louis, we employ nearly 4,000 people in four businesses throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Vertically integrated and positioned for growth, Bunge North America today is a driving force in the global marketplace.
To the cereal manufacturer we’re a corn dry miller. To the restaurateur, we’re a quality purveyor of salad and cooking oils. In most cases, our customers don’t see us as the agribusiness giant that we are.
And that’s partly by design. Although we’re a large company, we’re committed to offering very personalized service to our growers and customers. Whether it’s the farmer who needs to get his truck in and out of the elevator quickly during the busy harvest season, or the food manufacturer who needs a specific ingredient, specially formulated, our focus is always on customer satisfaction.
Growers, Bunge North America, food processors and consumers are all links in the same food supply chain. We believe it is our respect for our growers and customers, our concern for their wellbeing and our commitment to consistent, uncompromising quality that have led to our success and longevity.
1818
Our parent company, Bunge Limited, was founded in 1818 as Bunge & Co. in Amsterdam, Netherlands, by Johann Peter Bunge. It soon became a leader in world commodities. Mr. Bunge’s grandson Ernest immigrated to Argentina in 1884 and founded Bunge y Born. By 1905, the new company had expanded into Brazil.
1923-1959
Geographic expansion continued throughout the early 1900s. In 1923, the Bunge Group established Bunge North American Grain Corporation (today known as Bunge North America, Inc.) in New York City as a privately held company trading in raw agricultural commodities. In 1935, Bunge North American Grain Corporation purchased its first sizable grain facility, Midway, a rail terminal in Minneapolis, and in 1943 shortened its name to Bunge Corporation. During the 1940s and ‘50s, we pursued an acquisition strategy that began our transformation from an operation focused solely on trading into a fullservice grain company.
1960-1979
By the early 1960s, Bunge was a major player in the grain export industry. We began to focus our grain origination capabilities along the Mississippi River system to better support our export activities. We constructed grain-handling facilities at strategic locations, and in 1961 opened the largest export elevator of its kind in the U.S. in Destrehan, Louisiana. We began to diversify into value-added processing in the late 1960s and built our first soybean processing plant in 1967 adjacent to the Destrehan elevator. Throughout the 1970s and early ‘80s, we built or acquired elevators and processing plants. We purchased Lauhoff Grain Company in 1979, making us the largest corn dry miller in the world and creating the base for Bunge Milling’s operation.
1980-2000
In 1980, we acquired three edible oil refineries, marking our entry into value added oil processing and packaging. During the 1980s and ‘90s, we divested ourselves of certain non-river elevators to concentrate our strengths along the Mississippi River system. In 1990, we moved our headquarters from New York to a more strategic location in St. Louis.
2001-2004
In May 2001, we changed our name to Bunge North America. On August 2, 2001, parent company Bunge Limited began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BG). In 2002, Bunge Limited purchased Cereol, SA., an oilseed processor and manufacturer of soy ingredients with operations in Europe and North America. As a result of this transaction, Bunge North America integrated its operations with Cereol’s North America oilseed businesses — Central Soya in the United States and CanAmera Foods in Canada.
Today & Tomorrow
Today, we continue to look for growth opportunities along the food supply chain and in the biofuels industry. By leveraging our North American footprint, our access to global markets and processing technology, we are poised to help our growers and customers prosper in the future.