July 18, 2011
Cargill pledges to support Australian wheat
Cargill Australia's chief executive Ralph Selwood has promised to continue providing technical and marketing support for Australian wheat into export markets.
Farmers concerned with the increased presence of multinationals in the Australian grains industry had claimed there was no incentive for companies such as Cargill to promote Australian wheat when it could satisfy its customers with wheat from other origins should it need to.
However, Selwood said it was in the company's best interest to continue to provide technical support to its customers on how to best use Australian wheat.
"We will be keeping on the technical and marketing staff, and will continue to invest in international promotion," said Selwood. "The truth is that Australian wheat still has a good reputation with buyers and we want to continue that."
He brushed off recent reports which suggested the quality of Australian exports was declining, such as GrainGrowers "What The World Wants".
"There is this negative sentiment, and there is no doubt that these things, such as lower quality shipments, are happening, but not to the degree it has been spoken about," he said.
Selwood felt the current level of technical support was "sufficient", but said the company would continue to ensure its customers had good support.
He said Cargill and the Australian Wheat Board would not be focusing exclusively on one market segment.
"Obviously there are premium markets, and we like to try and push wheat into these areas, but equally, the reality is that there are price sensitive markets we need to work with."
He said Cargill would look to accumulate large amounts of Australian grain and would not be solely pursuing niche, high value opportunities.
He said Cargill was supporting the wider Australian wheat industry through its strong commitment to the wheat classification program and other quality initiatives.
"We're looking to bring Australian wheat to the market and capture value along the way."
