Cargill pledges 16 million meals to support Covid-19 relief efforts in India.

- Provides nutrition to 150,000 families across 16 cities through ration kits and cooked meals

- Product donations include edible oil and wheat flour, besides monetary contribution to the PM Cares Fund

National, 16 April 2020 – As COVID-19 continues to spread, there is a growing need to feed the most vulnerable communities in our society. In line with its purpose of nourishing the world, Cargill has pledged 16 million meals to feed families through dry ration kits and cooked meals. The relief efforts will impact 150,000 families across 16 cities in India; including Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Kurkumbh, Kandla, Surat, Bengaluru, Davangere, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, Bhatinda, Noida, Nagpur, Varanasi and Jaipur.

To implement this, Cargill is working with three NGO partners; namely, Akshaya Patra Foundation, Feeding India and India Food Banking Network (IFBN), reaching out to communities pan India. The dry ration kits include food items like pulses, rice, oil, wheat flour, spices etc. depending on local requirements. And cooked meals are also being served daily across these states. Cargill’s efforts also include a monetary contribution to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM Cares Fund). Cargill is also leveraging its own distribution network and working with local state authorities to meet hyper-local needs with in-kind donations across the country.

“This global crisis requires a fully concerted approach to be adopted. Given the critical nature of our business, we are cognizant of our role in the relief and recovery efforts. We are doing everything needed to ensure supply of essential food and feed products continues. On the other hand, we are supporting local authorities and reaching out through NGO partners to provide food items and meals to nourish those impacted. We will continue helping communities during this time of need”, said Simon George, president, Cargill India.

Sundeep Talwar, Chief Marketing Officer, Akshay Patra Foundation, said, “Our partnership with Cargill has strengthened our resolve to serve the ones most affected in this hour of crisis. Support from Cargill shall enable provision of cooked meals and dry ration kits for thousands of marginalized families who have lost their livelihood. We hope our collaborative efforts will alleviate the burden for these families.”

Employee personal giving

Cargill India employees are also making voluntarily contributions to support the cause. Cargill India will be matching the amount collected through this drive, thus doubling employees’ contribution to help communities. The corpus collected will be donated to the PM Cares Fund, set up by PM Modi for those affected by the coronavirus.

These are some examples of how Cargill is working with nonprofit and NGO partners to help address food security, health and safety needs and agriculture and food industry challenges due to the spread of COVID-19. In addition to monetary donations, we are collaborating with nonprofits around the globe to donate food, ingredients and other high-need products for those who are vulnerable during this pandemic. For example, Cargill has donated nearly 1 million pounds of food to food shelves and hunger relief efforts in local communities where our employees live and work. Cargill’s global and regional COVID-19 response is guided by our purpose to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way.

About Cargill

Cargill’s 160,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Every day, we connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with food they need to thrive.

We combine 154 years of experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries. Side-by-side, we are building a stronger, sustainable future for agriculture. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.

About Cargill in India

In India, Cargill started operations in 1987. It has businesses in refined oils, food ingredients, grain and oilseeds, cotton, animal nutrition, bio-industrial and trade structured finance. Cargill in India markets leading consumer brands of edible oils such as Nature Fresh, Gemini, Sweekar, Leonardo Olive Oil, Rath and Sunflower brand of hydrogenated fats. It also markets wheat flour under the Nature Fresh brand name.

The animal nutrition business of Cargill provides animal feed and premix and nutrition for aqua, dairy and poultry. It markets animal feed and premix under the brands such as Provimi, Purina, and EWOS. The Cargill’s grains and oilseeds crush business originates grains and oilseeds. Overall the company employs more than 4,000 employees working across offices and plants and a network of offices, warehouses and depots.