A Chinese food industry
conglomerate
From left to right:
Soh Hang Kwang,
John Baker and
Lex Kloosterman
Founded in 1952, COFCO is China's largest food
processor, manufacturer and trader, and has
developed into a diversified conglomerate, with
business operations spanning a wide range of
sectors, including plantations, cultivation, food-
processing, finance, warehousing, transportation,
port facilities, hotels and real estate. Between 1952
and 1987, the company was the sole agricultural
products importer and exporter operating under
direct control of China's central government, By
the end of the twentieth century, the company
had just over 60,000 employees in a variety of
locations across China, as well as overseas opera
tions in countries such as the United States, United
Kingdom, Japan, Australia and Canada. COFCO
has been a key cliënt of Rabobank Asia for over
16 years.
As one of the leading F&A specialists in Asia, it was John
Baker's responsibility to bring together his team and spend
time thinking about COFCO's position in the market and their
place in the supply chain. John Baker, Asia Head of Food
Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR): "We explored how
we feit the current industry drivers represented opportunities
and threats for the company; we knew the meeting wouldn't
be driven by statistics and products, but rather by strategie
thought. Our aim was to open up the strategie mind-space of
the cliënt, and it proved to be quite successful on this occasion
- the majority of the four-hour discussion was between our-
selves, the chairman and the CEO, which is about as high level
as you can get."
Rabobank Asia has already enjoyed a 16-year relationship
with COFCO, and it was this experience and understanding of
the company that helped the team elevate the relationship
to a new level. Lex Kloosterman: "COFCO is one of our most
complex and comprehensive clients, and in many respects we
probably selected the most challenging company on which
to roll-out our Thought Leadership technique. However, we
realised that the technique would help us reinforce the sense
of intimacy we had with the company, and we did this directly
by making a personal connection with the board."
ISSUE 27 MAY 20 1 RI WORLD
