Dive Brief:
- Cargill and ADM are said to be close to deal in which Cargill would take control of ADM's cocoa business. The transaction could be worth as much as $2 billion.
- ADM has been looking to unload the business which operates on three continents, since last year, sources told Reuters.
- If the deal takes place it would create a company large enough to rival Barry Callebaut, the Zurich-based company that is world's largest producer of industrial chocolate ingredients.
Dive Insight:
Cocoa processing is an industry with a decidedly disturbing component -- three companies (Barry Callebaut, ADM and Cargill) control 40 percent of global bean-grinding capacity and dominate exports from impoverished nations such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast that are world's top producers of cocoa beans. We expect politicians, activists and others to express concerns over the lack of competition and the exploitation of the world's poor. But we would be surprised if such concerns scuttled the deal.