Bunge and CP Foods Pioneer Greater Transparency in Shipments of Deforestation-Free Soybeans Using Blockchain Technology

Published 6 months ago via Business Wire

Around 185,000 metric tons of deforestation-free soybean meal were shipped from Brazil to Thailand to test the companies’ joint digital blockchain traceability solution for sustainable soy

Bunge (NYSE: BG), a leading agribusiness and food company, and Bangkok Produce Merchandising Public Company Limited (BKP), a subsidiary of Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CPF or CP Foods), a world leader in food, jointly tested a traceability platform using blockchain technology for sustainable soy. To date, three shipments totaling 185,000 metric tons of deforestation-free soybean meal have been loaded in Brazil and are headed to Thailand, allowing CP Foods to trace the soybeans from farm origin, processing, transportation, to delivery at destination. Three additional ships carrying an additional 180,000 metric tons of soybean meal are expected for shipment by July 2024.

These products comply with Bunge’s and BKP’s socio-environmental supplier verification protocols and were grown in high priority regions with zero deforestation since 2020, aligning with the cutoff date determined in the sourcing standard developed by CP Foods. In addition to compliance with different socio-environmental criteria, the platform also offers customers access to information including the carbon footprint of the volumes sold and whether the farm has adopted regenerative agricultural practices.

Paisarn Kruawongvanich, Chief Executive Officer of Bangkok Produce Merchandising stated that the company is working to connect blockchain-based traceability solutions with suppliers, partners, and farmers across the world, ensuring transparency across its supply chain. “In the initial stages of our partnership with Bunge, we have shipped the first vessels of soybean meal verified deforestation-free, fully traceable from farms to their destination in Thailand for CP Foods. This marks a significant milestone for Charoen Pokphand Foods to achieve 100% deforestation-free supply chains by 2025,” added Kruawongvanich.

“Adding a layer of blockchain technology improves the transparency in end-to-end traceability that Bunge has been doing for some years. This ability to increase end-consumer confidence in soy projects is only possible thanks to the robust supplier’s socio-environmental verification and monitoring system that we have structured over the last decade, which uniquely positions us to provide the connection of proven sustainable products with markets where the demand for them is increasing,” says Rossano de Angelis Jr., Bunge’s Vice President of Agribusiness in South America.

The two companies have been collaborating since October 2023, when they announced a partnership to develop technical, commercial and operational feasibility studies for a blockchain traceability solution aimed at building a sustainable and digitally integrated supply chain. The agreement involves oilseeds and their by-products sourced by Bunge in Brazil destined for several countries in Asia, where BKP and CP Foods produce and sell feed and food.

The ongoing tests aim to automate the connection between Bunge and BKP’s supplier management and socio-environmental monitoring systems with a digital platform. This enables the customer to monitor and receive product traceability data, in addition to accessing socio-environmental information from the sourced farms. The blockchain technology ensures an additional layer of reliability, as it makes data immutable once it enters the platform.

For Bunge’s Distribution Director in Asia, Mohit Purbey, the deep and trusting relationship Bunge has built with CP Foods over the years was key to the project. “It is also an example of how Bunge can create tailored solutions to help our customers fulfill their own sustainability commitments,” he adds.

Since the end of 2022, Bunge's supplier monitoring system covers more than 16,000 farms, around 20 million hectares, in South America and features state-of-the-art satellite technology, capable of identifying changes in land use and soybean planting on each monitored property. In Brazil, Bunge currently monitors its entire direct suppliers in areas at risk of deforestation and is expecting to fully cover the indirect suppliers in 2025. More than 97% of the volume of soy sourced by Bunge in the country is deforestation and conversion free, which brings the company closer to its goal of achieving deforestation-free chains in 2025.

About Bunge

At Bunge (NYSE: BG), our purpose is to connect farmers to consumers to deliver essential food, feed, and fuel to the world. With more than two centuries of experience, unmatched global scale, and deeply rooted relationships, we work to strengthen global food security, increase sustainability where we operate, and help communities prosper. As a leader in oilseed processing and a leading producer and supplier of specialty plant-based oils and fats, we value our partnerships with farmers to bring quality products from where they’re grown to where they’re consumed. At the same time, we collaborate with our customers to develop tailored and innovative solutions to meet evolving dietary needs and trends in every part of the world. Our Company has its registered office in Geneva, Switzerland, and its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. We have approximately 23,000 dedicated employees working across approximately 300 facilities located in more than 40 countries.

Website Information

We are routinely post important information for investors on our website, www.bunge.com, in the "Investors" section. We may use this website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investors section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.

About Bangkok Produce Merchandising PCL (BKP)

Bangkok Produce Merchandising PCL (BKP), a Feed Ingredient Trading Business Unit of Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CP Foods)., aims to be a sustainable leader with a solid foundation of sustainability throughout the supply chain.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This Bunge press release contains both historical and forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations and projections about our future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. We have tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words including “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” “continue” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. The following important factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements: the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and other potential pandemic outbreaks; the effect of weather conditions and the impact of crop and animal disease on our business; the impact of global and regional economic, agricultural, financial and commodities market, political, social and health conditions; changes in governmental policies and laws affecting our business, including agricultural and trade policies, financial markets regulation and environmental, tax and biofuels regulation; the impact of seasonality; the impact of government policies and regulations; the outcome of pending regulatory and legal proceedings; our ability to complete, integrate and benefit from acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and strategic alliances; the impact of industry conditions, including fluctuations in supply, demand and prices for agricultural commodities and other raw materials and products that we sell and use in our business, fluctuations in energy and freight costs and competitive developments in our industries; the effectiveness of our capital allocation plans, funding needs and financing sources; the effectiveness of our risk management strategies; operational risks, including industrial accidents, natural disasters and cybersecurity incidents; changes in foreign exchange policy or rates; the impact of our dependence on third parties; our ability to attract and retain executive management and key personnel; other factors affecting our business generally; and the risks and uncertainties described in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section and under the heading “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements” in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K. The forward-looking statements included in this release are made only as of the date of this release, and except as otherwise required by federal securities law, we do not have any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

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