Cargill Cotton is a

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

trading company with headquarters in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Its parent company Cargill, Inc., a commodities trader and producer based in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, became one of the world's largest traders of cotton after acquiring Hohenberg Brothers in 1976.

History

Cargill Cotton’s roots in cotton merchandising trace back to 1818, when John and Eustace Ralli began trading cotton and other commodities in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Over the next thirty years, the brothers' business interests began to focus predominantly on cotton from the East Indies. In 1851, Ralli Brothers was incorporated with offices in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, and

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. In 1865, another cotton trading company, Smith, Coney and Barrat, was founded and soon became very successful. By the middle of the twentieth century, the firms had grown to become two of the United Kingdom's leading cotton merchants and in 1962 the two companies agreed to merge, forming Ralli Brothers and Coney. Shortly after the formation of Smith, Coney, and Barrat, Adolphe and Morris Hohenberg formed their partnership in the United States to trade cotton and dry goods in 1879. Over the next hundred years, Hohenberg Brothers Cotton Company and Ralli Brothers and Coney grew to become two of the largest and most successful in the United States and the world. At the time

Cargill Cargill, Incorporated is an American multinational food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865 by William Wallace Cargill, it is the largest privately held c ...

acquired Hohenberg Bros. Company in 1976, Ralli Bros. and Coney and Hohenberg each had established themselves as global leaders in the industry. In 1981 Ralli Brothers and Coney was sold to Cargill Inc. of

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, USA. Ralli Brothers and Coney's strengths were in the trading of cotton from the Indian sub-continent and Africa, which complemented the fields of expertise, which Cargill Inc. already possessed through their

, USA based cotton-trading company, Hohenberg Brothers Inc. From these two small family ventures evolved one of the largest cotton merchandising concerns in the history of the world. In 2002, after over 20 years of operating under both the Hohenberg and Ralli names, the name of the entire cotton operation was changed to Cargill Cotton. Thus the combination of strengths became complete as the cotton business unit assumed the name of its 100 billion-dollar parent company.

References

External links

* Cotton industry in the United States {{US-company-stub