Activities

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Activities / Sugar

Before the establishment of Global Foods in 1996, the principals had been active in commodity finance. Most of the financings they structured were for producers and traders of sugar worldwide, and often on the basis of preferential trade access to the EU or the USA.

By founding Global Foods, they continued and expanded their sugar-related activities, building upon their existing knowledge and network in the industry. Within several years, a niche sugar-processing and sugar-trading business was set up through the subsidiaries Rica Foods and Emesa Sugar.

The largest importers of white sugar into the EU

These two companies became the largest importers of white refined sugar in the EU. By making intelligent use of existing preferential trade arrangements, the group managed to establish a small but meaningful market share in between the large European beet sugar producers. And in order to do so, it had to sell to some of the largest and most quality-conscious food processing companies in the world, requiring the implementation of quality-control and certification systems (in addition to HACCP; both IFS and BRC) that most food producers in the EU have not yet implemented; and requiring the creation of a just-in-time distribution system covering both storage and trucking.

On the sourcing side, the group had to partner with dependable suppliers and had to build and manage processing facilities in specific origins around the world, including newly developed food processing plants in Aruba, Ethiopia, Andorra and Croatia. It also created an efficient logistical chain with own warehouses in the Netherlands and Spain, using trucking, break-bulk shipping and container (trans-)shipment partners on a day-to-day basis. Even in the most challenging origins, quality certification at the highest European level was prepared for and awarded.