Via Opus Group
Bunge's North American Headquarters in Chesterfield.
On August 13, Bunge, an agriculture and food company, announced that its headquarters would be moving from White Plains, New York, to St. Louis. According to a press release, the transition, expected to be completed in the second half of 2020, will allow "the company to leverage shared capabilities and enhance collaboration." Bunge, which has 31,000 employees worldwide, is associated with "more than 360 port terminals, oilseed processing plants, grain silos, and food and ingredient production and packaging facilities around the world."
As reported by FOX 2, the company previously moved their North American headquarters from New York to the St. Louis area in 1990, then again to Chesterfield in 2016.
St. Louis officials have already spoken on the move, including St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, who tweeted that the decision "underscores our region’s growing status as an international leader in ag-tech." KMOX's Michael Calhoun reported that Page told the St. Louis County Council that the move will bring 200 jobs to the St. Louis area.
Gov. Mike Parson also weighed in on the relocation, tweeting that the move illustrates that the region is an "ag-tech industry hub."
In the press release, Bunge's CEO, Gregory A. Heckman, wrote that "while St. Louis is already an important hub for Bunge and our current North American operations, the city is also home to a number of food, agriculture, animal health, and plant science organizations and customers." Further, he considers the headquarters relocation a major step forward in "shifting the company's operating model to align around a more efficient, streamlined global business structure."
