Bunge Ltd., St. Louis, and India-based UPL Ltd. have announced an agreement to create Orígeo, a new company in Brazil that will combine Bunge’s expertise in financing, marketing, and logistics and UPL’s portfolio of sustainable agricultural inputs, solutions, and services.
Orígeo will serve farmers who already have relationships with Bunge and UPL in the region known as Mapitobapa, which comprises Maranhao, Piaui, Tocantins, Bahia, and Para states. It will offer inputs such as seeds, pesticides, bio-solutions, and fertilizers; assistance for crop planning; agronomic advice; sustainability consultancy and certifications in regenerative and low carbon agriculture; agricultural finance solutions; and harvest marketing and logistics services.
The company will also offer farmers digital agriculture services, including real-time information, recommendations, and alerts using field data collected by satellite.
This is just the latest move by Bunge into Brazil’s ag retail market. In January, it bought a 33% stake in Sinagro Produtos Agropecuarios SA of Mato Grosso (GM Jan. 21, p. 29) in order to strengthen its grain orientation strategy in the country. Sinagro is a major reseller of grains and agricultural inputs, with a significant presence in Brazil’s “Cerrado” savanna region. The deal was announced by the sellers – UPL and other shareholders. UPL invested in Sinagro in 2015.
Also, late last year Bunge signed a Memorandum of Understanding to buy a minority stake in Brazilian agricultural retailer Pantanal Agricola (GM Dec. 3, 2021). That transaction allows Bunge to intensify barter trading in the Center-West region, where Pantanal operates.
Bunge also plans to invest in Pantanal’s grain storage capacity and boost its potential growth. Pantanal Agricola, in business since 2001, operates in three states – Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Goias – and 32 cities, selling fertilizer, seed, and crop protection products.