Through the ages: Cargill’s history of building a food secure world

1879

Just three years after the telephone is invented, Cargill installs phones for business purposes. Cargill also quickly implements emerging technologies like grain-cleaning machinery.

W.W. Cargill erects his first elevator and sets up headquarters in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

1890s

By establishing offices and business sites in larger cities and transportation hubs, Cargill can connect the food supply chain more efficiently and effectively.

1920s

Cargill begins collating weather data to provide insights into the ups and downs of crop yields.

1922

The company establishes a cutting-edge grain laboratory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There, scientists use precise analysis and advanced measurements to grade grain, allowing them to offer a wider range of types and price points.

Julius Hendel leads the grain laboratory in Minneapolis, which would become one of the most respected private labs in the country, shown here in 1922.

1923

Cargill’s private wire system allows employees to send messages almost instantaneously — a major competitive advantage.

1930s

1940s

The Carneida is born: Cargill develops a new style of steel vessel — part tugboat, part barge. It’s nimble enough to pilot waterways and big enough to move crops on a mass scale, providing the first real agricultural transportation competition for railroads in decades.

Cargill unveils an integrated towboat and barge that includes innovative Cargill-designed features.

To this point, storage elevators had been vertical. Cargill flips that notion on its head, building a horizontal warehouse that could hold 10 million bushels. Instead of emptying grain loads by hand, rail cars were lifted by machinery and tipped on their sides — reducing what had been difficult and time-consuming work to just four minutes per car.

1958

Cargill deepens its scientific grounding with a new research center in Elk River, Minnesota. This is a place for research in animal nutrition, feed performance and animal husbandry.

Nutrena will revolutionize feed development and pricing using Cargill’s first electronic computer, an IBM 650. Improvements from research and development in agricultural technology guide the company’s thought leadership across several industries.

1967

Gibson City, Illinois is the site of the first unit train, an efficient method developed by Cargill of hauling grain at a lower cost. A unit train was the concept that – instead of renting out individual cars for grain on a train – you filled the entire train with grain, specifically using aluminum “hopper” cars. The innovation revolutionized the grain industry.

Cargill develops the first unit train to haul grain at a lower cost.

1990s

Cargill installs steam pasteurization in its beef plants, greatly reducing the risk of E. Coli. It also revolutionizes freight with a new type of barge for carrying liquid sweeteners.

1998

Cargill builds the world’s first offshore port to bring feed and fertilizer to farmers in India.

Cargill creates the world’s first offshore port off the coast of India.

Factory employees at Cargill’s Diamond V manufacturing plant who were exposed daily to the fermented animal feed show signs of being healthier than office-working colleagues. The observation leads to years of clinical trials and the eventual development of EpiCor® postbiotic, the world’s #1 postbiotic brand to support immune and gut health. Cargill would also go on to develop TruPet™ postbiotic, leading the industry in microbiome support for pets.

2000s

Cargill uses x-ray tomography (CT scans) as a way to visualize the internal microstructure of food systems in a non-destructive way.  

Cargill creates the Cargill Nutrition System (CNS), combining our knowledge of what diets animals need to be healthy, productive and sustainable with the knowledge we have about raw materials used to feed those animals.

2008

Cargill introduces TRUVIA™ brand (pronounced Tru-VEE-a) natural sweetener, a great-tasting, zero calorie sweetener made from rebiana, the best-tasting part of the stevia leaf.

Stevia leaves like the above can now be used in Cargill’s TRUVIA™ brand.

2011

Cargill helps take the waste stream from chocolate production and turns it into animal feed.

2017

Cargill introduces the lowest saturated fat, high oleic canola oil available to commercial food customers worldwide. The oil is made from a canola hybrid that contains 4.5 percent or less saturated fat while maintaining high fry and shelf life performance, freshness and taste. It reduces saturated fat content 35 percent from previous canola oil generations.

For the first time at Thanksgiving, consumers can trace Honeysuckle White® brand turkeys from a family farm to their table. Consumers can access the farm's location by state and county, view the family farm story, see photos from the farm and read a message from the farmer.

Cargill broadens its protein portfolio and makes its first investment in alternative protein, backing Upside Foods (formerly Memphis Meats), a U.S. leader in cultivated protein products.

2020

To connect consumers with the journey of the cocoa they are eating and drinking, Cargill launches CocoaWise™. The digital portal provides food and beverage manufacturers increased knowledge and shareability into the origin of the products they source from Cargill’s direct supply chain.

Cargill and ZeroNorth partner to accelerate the use of digital solutions that decarbonize shipping. The partnership expands with the development of ZeroNorth’s advanced, market leading Optimize software and in 2023 Cargill commits its entire fleet to using this digital technology to reduce CO2 emissions.

The new, portable EWOS SalmoNIR technology from Cargill uses near-infrared spectroscopy to provide salmon farmers with real-time data on fat content, pigment, omega-3 fatty acids and other important parameters, helping them make better, quicker farm management and nutrition decisions.

Cargill has armed salmon farmers with cutting-edge tools like the portable EWOS SalmoNIR.

2021

Cargill launches RegenConnect®, providing farmers with the tools, resources and incentives they need to implement regenerative practices like low till, no-till and cover cropping. In 2024, Cargill RegenConnect® goes on to surpass 1 million enrolled acres for the 2025 U.S. planting season.

2022

Cargill creates Europe’s largest waste-based biodiesel plant in Ghent, Belgium, which takes waste oils and fats and turns them into advanced biodiesel for customers in the maritime and trucking sectors. It’s a big contribution to the circular economy and it helps our customers reduce their environmental impacts.

Cargill's waste-based biodiesel plant in Ghent, Belgium turns waste into biodiesel.

Cargill launches Galleon™, a microbiome assessment platform that helps farmers determine how the gut microbiome of their flock is related to their nutrition and health and management practices.

Cargill tools like Galleon™ help farmers understand in-depth information about their animals’ nutrition.

Cargill launches Kitchen Blueprint, “the brain of the kitchen.” This artificial intelligence platform keeps track of what’s in stock and can even place an order with a distributor when inventory runs low. The benefits: Less manual counting, reduced food loss and a single source of truth for restaurants.