Edible Oil Global Competitors

Nov. 3, 2009

Bunge North America Inc. is the world's main squeeze. Its milling division, which operates five mills, is the largest corn dry miller in the world. In addition to corn, the company also deals in soybeans, canola, wheat, and sorghum. Its grain division, with 80 elevators, stores the oilseed crops; its processing division operates oilseed processing plants throughout the US and Canada; its crusher/refiner facility in Iowa is the one of the largest oil-extraction lines in the U.S.

Other players include:

  • PPB Group Berhad, a holding company with a wide variety of interests in Malaysia and Indonesia, PPB's main business is food production and processing (animal feed, edible oils, flour, and sugar).
  • COFCO (formerly known as China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs) is made up of two segments: COFCO International and COFCO (Hong Kong), a food importer and exporter.
  • Soybeans, corn, cotton and sesame seeds, and olives have helped make The Nisshin OilliO Group Ltd. the largest maker and marketer of edible oils in Japan. The company sells salad dressing, cooking oil, and margarine for home and commercial use as well as meal and grain products.
  • AarhusKarlshamn AB is the result of a sweet deal between two former rivals in the vegetable oil industry: Sweden's Karlshamn and Danish group Aarhus United. Aarhus United made special chocolate fats and other specialty fats, oils, and oleochemicals used by the bakery, confectionery, cosmetic, dairy, infant formula, and pharmaceuticals industries.
  • Shrimp and fish oil are among the products from Arista Industries Inc. The company processes and sells imported (Asian and South American) and domestic seafood products. It also markets vegetable, marine and industrial oils. The products are distributed to the cosmetic, pharmaceutical, food service, and wholesale and retail seafood industries.
  • Clover Corporation Ltd. hopes to strike it rich in oil and keep its bean counters busy. That would be with fish oil and soybeans though. Through its joint venture subsidiary Nu-Mega Ingredients, the company manufactures and supplies Omega 3 (which occurs in Tuna oil) to food and pharmaceutical companies in Australia and other countries.
  • Eastocean Oils & Grains Industries (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd. has found its fortune in oil, the edible kind. The company manufactures, processes, and refines soybean, wheat, and rice to produce oils, flour, and a variety of other processed foods. 
  • Heilongjiang Jiusan Oil & Fat Co. Ltd. is an expert in soybeans. The company produces a variety of products from soybeans such as soybean oil (Grade 1), flakes, germs, isofavaone, and salad oil. The company also makes natural vitamin E, as well as soybean saponin, soybean mono-glyceride, soy tissue protein, and soy protein isolates.
  • Liberty Vegetable Oil Co. produces edible oils from tree nuts. Its oils include almond, English walnut, hazelnut, macadamia nut, and pecan oils, all of which are used in the food, personal care, cosmetic, and industrial product industries.

GRAS Omega-3 Oil

  • The Monsanto Co. and The Solae Co., both based in St. Louis, collaborated to develop an oil with stearidonic acid (SDA), which may be metabolized in the body to form long chain fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a form of omega-3 fatty acid. Recently accepted as GRAS, the soybean oil with SDA may be used as an ingredient in baked foods and baking mixes, breakfast cereals and grains, cheeses, dairy product analogs, fats and oils, fish products, frozen dairy desserts and mixes, grain products and pastas, gravies and sauces, meat products, milk products, nuts and nut products, poultry products, processed fruit juices, processed vegetable products, puddings and fillings, snack foods, soft candy, and soups and soup mixes at levels that will provide 375mg of SDA per serving. Obtained from a bioengineered soybean, the oil contains 15 percent to 30 percent SDA and 5 percent to 8 percent gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Neither SDA nor GLA is found in conventional soybean oil. The SDA soybean oil also contains higher levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and palmitic acid, and lower levels of oleic acid and linoleic acid.
  • The Par-Way Group Inc. manufactures edible oils in aerosol cans and spray bottles. The company, which operates as the Par-Way Tryson Co., serves the bakery and foodservice industries.
  • Pura Foods Ltd. is a subsidiary of U.S. agricultural giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Pura Foods refines and processes edible oils, shortenings, margarines, and other spreads for the bakery, foodservice, and retail food sectors in the UK, as well as in selected overseas markets.
  • Ventura Foods LLC has branded and private-label foodservice products including salad oils, shortenings, margarine, butter and butter blends, pan coatings, liquid butter alternatives, mayonnaises, salad dressings, and more. 
  • Carolina Soy Products Inc. helps restaurants reduce the fat in their fried food offerings. The company purchases soybeans from North Carolina farmers and processes them into commercial soy cooking oils. It makes Whole Harvest Smart Fry brand commercial cooking oil, a trans fat-free alternative to hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated commercial cooking oils.
  • Founded in 2002 to capture more of the fat and oil market, J-Oil Mills Inc. (formerly Honen Ajinomoto Oil Mills) wants to jump into the top spot as the edible oil producer in Japan and become a global player as well. 
  • Omega Protein Corp. is the alpha dog of the fish-meal industry. With four US processing plants, a fleet of 59 fishing vessels, and 32 spotter aircraft, the company is the largest U.S. producer of fish meal and fish oil, both of which are derived from menhaden (an inedible fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico and along the East Coast).
  • Pyco Industries Inc. is a member-owned cooperative with cottonseed oil mills located in Lubbock, Texas, and Greenwood, Mississippi. Used by food manufacturers and other foodservice companies, its oil is shipped to customers across the country.
Source: Hoovers

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