Cargill, the massive Minnesota-based food processing conglomerate, is laying off roughly 5% of its global staff as agricultural commodity prices fall.
Forbes ranks Cargill as America’s largest privately held firm and the world’s largest agricultural commodities dealer. In a statement to CNN on Monday, the corporation stated that the adjustments are part of “a long-term strategy” established earlier this year.
Cargill is heavily involved in the ingredients business. Simply said, the corporation acts as a middleman, distributing grains, meat, and other agricultural products all over the world. It had made a lot of money during the pandemic and its aftermath, thanks to inflation and geopolitical uncertainty that threw food prices out of control. But now the prices of groceries are going down.
The US Department of Agriculture also says that the number of horses in the US is going down. Cargill has invested to become one of North America’s largest beef processors.
Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the notoriously tight-lipped behemoth’s profits had dropped to $2.48 billion for the fiscal year ended in May. This was less than half of the record $6.7 billion it earned from 2021 to 2022, and the profit was the lowest since 2016.
According to its 2024 report, Cargill employs over 160,000 employees, although it does not issue financial data on a regular basis. That means there will be approximately 8,000 cuts. Brian Sikes has served as the company’s president and CEO since 2023.
In June, Cargill announced the construction of an Atlanta hub and the employment of 400 tech and engineering positions.
“As we look to the future, we have laid out a clear plan to evolve and strengthen our portfolio to take advantage of compelling trends in front of us, maximise our competitiveness, and, above all, continue to deliver for our customers,” according to a statement provided to CNN.