Cargill’s global earnings drop amid cocoa market and agricultural challenges
As discussed at this year's World Confectionery Conference ,Cargill's confectionery ingredient operations have been experiencing improved fortunes, though cocoa chain challenges remain that have influenced its latest results.Pic: Neill Barston
Cargill’s first quarter net earnings fell by a reported 52%, standing at $927 million, down from $1.9 billion, amid pressure on cocoa markets, as well as costs linked to its cattle business, writes Neill Barston.
The figures, originally seen by Bloomberg, related to the period ended August 31, and come as the company grapples with notable international challenges, including geopolitical issues of the ongoing Iran and Ukraine wars, as well as uncertain economic global headwinds.
Revenues for the group last year as a whole stood at $154 billion for the full 2025 financial calendar, against $160bn achieved in 2024, underlining key challenges facing the wider sector.
With the business employing some 155,000 people across its global agricultural interests, the company’s broad portfolio has seen it engage in a significant array of fields -with its chocolate and snacking interests continuing to post encouraging results.
Indeed, as our World Confectionery Conference report in our October edition of Confectionery Production noted, the company’s presentation at this year’s event in London revealed that its operations within the sector were continuing to expand.
Among some of the most notable releases for the sector was its NextCoa alternative to cocoa, which as the company explained, had been developed as a direct measure to assist in the sector in handling ongoing high commodity prices within cocoa markets – which were at comparative history highs of some $12,000 a tonne at the start of last year, before reducing to between $4-5k in recent months.
As recently reported, Cargill reported success after being named among the Fortune Change the World 2026 list for its work backing farmers, and on delivering food resilience.
The business was selected from roughly 200 candidates evaluated for the 2026 list, with the company supporting agricultural workers across many key chains, including the cocoa market.
Notably, Cargill presently works with more than 140,000 farmers who grow crops around the world, providing access to markets and offering services and solutions designed to support their businesses. Since 2017, Cargill has delivered more than 7.7 million farmer trainings globally.
