Cargill, an intensely private firm, sheds light on the food chain

Cargill's foray into the salmon business should help in two ways. First, it is part of Cargill’s attempt to expand into higher-value markets. One of its traditional mainstays, the trading of bulk agricultural commodities, has struggled since the end, in around 2013, of a China-led commodities supercycle. The firm has also suffered from a recent slump in demand for grains for biofuels. Consumption of farmed fish across the world has boomed, meanwhile, partly at the expense of beef, pork and other meats. Fish feed is its highest-cost component, and more efficient ways of feeding are key to the salmon industry’s growth. Second, Cargill can learn via the salmon-feeding business how to deal with increasingly picky consumers. Mr Wathne notes that salmon is a “premium” product, so consumers want to know not just where it came from, but where what it is fed on comes from. Fishermen of wild salmon, a well-connected bunch, are keen to turn public opinion against the farmed kind. That battle could make Cargill better at handling traceability in more established parts of its food business, such as meats.