Proof of Performance
Our leading role comes into play in all elements of the food and agribusiness (F&A) sector, from the beginning to the end of the chain – from producers to processors; traders to retailers; and investors along the way. Within all major food and agribusiness sectors, we offer financial support, education, sponsoring, an international network, solid products and services, and our rich sector knowledge. Some examples:
Building solid and continual relationships
With our F&A origins and expertise, we understand that your business can have good years and not-so-good years. Nonetheless our ambition is to support you in all seasons. Rabobank is critical of itself and is keen to learn from its clients as to what we do well and what could be improved. One of the means how we stay in close contact in what is important to our clients are our regional advisory boards.
Cotton in woolly times
Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) is Rabobank’s global F&A knowledge provider. FAR comprises a global team of analysts that continuously accumulates knowledge in major F&A sectors, issues and trends. Recently they published a report on the global demand for sugar, cotton and cotton. ‘When household budgets decline, people will cut back on buying new t-shirts and jeans, long before they cut back on buying food or coffee. Therefore, demand for cotton appears most vulnerable to the current global financial crisis, says the report.
Food & agribusiness Principles
Corporate social responsibility is an explicit strategic choice for Rabobank Group. In order to explain how we operate in the F&A market, we have formulated five F&A principles. The principles are a natural progression from our deep commitment to F&A.
Partner of our future farmers
Rabobank is committed to financing the food and agribusiness worldwide and values its relationship with professional sparring partners like young farmer associations worldwide. On a regular basis Rabobank exchanges knowledge, visions on agriculture and affiliated themes like CSR in the various regions. Our relationship with these organisations and its members is a natural fit.
Helping you grow
In this fast changing world our clients are forced to make well thought out strategic decisions. Especially for our retail clients our bank provides support from within our organisation through leadership training and programmes such as ‘Cultivating People’ in Australia, with workplace flexibility provisions and other employee benefits. Another example is the financial education and literacy training that Rabobank, N.A. offers to increase the levels of financial education and financial service awareness among low and moderate income populations.
Vision on Food 2009: ‘Ingredients for the supplier of the future’
On 24 March Rabobank and EFMI Business School organised the annual Vision on Food conference for the third time. In the two previous two conferences, we comprehensively focused on the future developments in food retail and foodservice. The third Vision on Food conference zoomed in on the future of the supplier and brought together the major players in the European Food sector.
Balanced Banking
Rabobank was founded on the principle of equal access to financial services to open the door to economic growth. Currently we are involved in several institutions in Egypt. The Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit (PBDAC), a bank with 1,200 branche offices, 29,000 employees and some 3 million customers, often provides loans in cash or sacks of chemical fertilizer, seeds and pesticides – rarely on a bank account. Rabo Development is supporting PBDAC in an incisive transformation.
