Milling & Baking News - May 4, 2021 - 26

TUES | 05 04 2021

BUNGE SHARE PRICE
$100
April 29, 2021 = $86.50

$80
$60
$40
$20
Jan. April July Oct. Jan. April July Oct. Jan. April
2019
2020
2021
Source: New York Stock Exchange

into the company's daily
business operations,
while also providing
employees with broader
career growth opportunities.
" We are already seeing
teams collaborating and
communicating more, and
training and development
opportunities get created, "
Mr. Heckman said. " These
benefits will be even
greater once we resume
to normal operations post
COVID. "
The path hasn't been
without its bumps, but the
investment community
has responded positively.
Bunge shares last week
hit a new 52-week high of
$88.84 in New York Stock
Exchange trading. The
share price was up 172%
from the 52-week low and
up 71% from the price when
Mr. Heckman was named
CEO. The company's earnings in 2020,
adjusted for special items, were up 74%
from the prior year.
Underpinning future steps the company takes to grow will be a commitment
to bolster Bunge's oilseeds platform, a sector of leadership for the company.

" Where industry consolidation makes
sense, we want to be involved in that and
a leader in that, " Mr. Heckman said. " We'll
also continue to look for organic growth
opportunities. We'll continue to de-bottleneck our own system to serve customers.
We'll also look for those acquisitions that
make sense. "
A model for the kinds of moves Bunge
may consider was the 2018 acquisition of
Loders Croklaan from IOI Corporation
Berhad. Bunge had been a major soybean
and softseed oil crusher and refiner for
many years, and the acquisition broadened Bunge's portfolio of products to
include tropical oils such as palm, coconut
and shea, giving Bunge a " full slate of fats
and oils, " Mr. Heckman said.
Looking forward, Bunge is well positioned through its crushing/refining platform to grow in the plant-based protein
boom currently underway, Mr. Heckman
said. He expressed confidence " multi-year
growth " would be forthcoming in plant
proteins.
" Our specialty fats and oils are important to that because they go into many of
those products and give them the mouthfeel and the taste and the bite that people
so love in eating these healthier plantbased products, " he said.
More directly, Bunge is looking for
ways to supply the plant-based protein
market as a food ingredient versus
the company's current role as what

ST. LOUIS - A longtime major supplier of soybean, sun and canola
oil, Bunge in 2018 acquired Loders Croklaan to become a full-line
shortening and oils supplier, with specialty products from the tropical
oils palm, coconut and shea, said Gregory A. Heckman, chief executive
officer of Bunge Ltd.
Other ingredient businesses in North America include wheat milling
in Mexico and dry corn milling in the United States.
" We serve a number of the CPG and foodservice customers, and I
think our team has done a phenomenal job this last year with all the
changes to the supply chains amid COVID, " Mr. Heckman said.
In addition to changing eating patterns with more people eating
more meals at home, the pandemic has prompted changes in formulations Bunge has needed to help companies actualize, Mr. Heckman said.

MILLING & BAKING NEWS

" Now, as we move toward the post COVID recovery, we will be able to
do that again, " he said. " But I couldn't be more proud of our team and
how we've been able to serve our food customers through this, and we
continue to innovate with them thinking about the long term and where
they want to go.
" That's really the next leg as you think about growth. We'll continue
to build around our strong oilseeds core; we will expand on our strong
specialty fats and oils platform; and we will take the next steps into
protein to meet the plant-based protein trend. We will also be an
important supplier of feedstocks to the renewable diesel and biofuels
industry while working to help deliver value back to the grower. All of
that is right off our core. We know who we are, and we're being very
thoughtful about that growth. " MBN

bakingbusiness.com

DEVON HILL

BUNGE BENEFITS FROM BREADTH,
AGILITY AS N. AMERICAN SUPPLIER

http://www.bakingbusiness.com

Milling & Baking News - May 4, 2021

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