Yihai Kerry (also known as Yihai Kerry Arawana; ) is a

publicly listed A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (li ...

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

company that is the largest

cooking oil Cooking oil (also known as edible oil) is a plant or animal liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. Oil allows higher cooking temperatures than water, making cooking faster and more flavorful, while likewise distributing h ...

processing company in China. It is a subsidiary of

Wilmar International Wilmar International Limited (); is a Singaporean food processing and investment holding company with more than 300 subsidiary companies. Founded in 1991, it is one of Asia's leading agribusiness groups alongside the COFCO Group. It ranks amongs ...

History

In 1987, Kuok Khoon Hong was sent to China by his uncle

Robert Kuok Robert Kuok Hock Nien, better known as Robert Kuok, (born 6 October 1923) is a Malaysian business magnate, investor and philanthropist based in Hong Kong since 1973. According to ''Forbes'', his net worth is estimated at $11.8 billion as of Apr ...

to explore the market. He noticed that most people there used unbranded

soybean oil Soybean oil (British English: soyabean oil) is a vegetable oil extracted from soybean (''Glycine max'') legumes. It is one of the most widely consumed cooking oils and the second most consumed vegetable oil. As a drying oil, processed soybean oil ...

that was easy to deteriorate and was harmful to health. Kuok believed that there was an opportunity to enter the China grain and oil market. In 1988, Yihai Group was established under Kerry Oil and Grains and its first cooking oil processing plant was set up in China. In 1991, Yihai Group launched Arawana, its first bottled cooking oil product brand to the Chinese market. The product proved popular and by 1999 sales reached 3,000 tonnes. At the end of 2006, Wilmar International acquired Kerry Oil and Grains for $2.7 billion and merged it with Yihai Group to form Yihai Kerry. In that year some media claimed that Wilmar and

COFCO Group COFCO (; full name: China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation) is a Chinese state-owned food processing holding company. COFCO Group is China's largest food processor, manufacturer and trader. It is also one of Asia's leading agribusiness groups along ...

had control over the cooking oil prices in China. In 2007, Yihai Kerry expanded to rice products and in 2008 expanded to flour and grain products. Originally part of Wilmar International, in January 2019 Yihai Kerry was restructured into an independent

joint-stock company A joint-stock company (JSC) is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareho ...

in preparation to go public. In October 2020, Yihai Kerry held its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO) becoming a listed company on the

ChiNext ChiNext is a NASDAQ-style subsidiary of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The first batch of firms started trading on ChiNext on October 30, 2009. ChiNext aims to attract innovative and fast-growing enterprises, especially high-tech firms. Its listi ...

board of the

Shenzhen Stock Exchange The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE; ) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shenzhen, in the People's Republic of China. It is one of three stock exchanges operating independently in Mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Excha ...

. At its time it was the largest IPO on Shenzhen Stock Exchange raising 13.9 billion yuan ($2 billion) due to popular demand and was oversubscribed 3,499 times. The IPO came three years after China opened doors for foreign firms such as

Bunge Global Bunge Global SA (''BUN-ghee'') is a global agribusiness and food company, incorporated in Geneva, Switzerland and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. As well as being an international soybean exporter, it is also involved in f ...

and

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 ...

to invest in the

oilseeds Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed o ...

crushing sector. Since listing, Yihai Kerry has reported consecutive declines in profits due to higher material costs caused by the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. In 2023, it reported a decline in profit for the second year. In January 2024, Yihai Kerry stated one of its units had been sued in

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

over its alleged role in loss-making palm oil trades between a state-owned trader Anhui Whywin International Co. and a privately owned counterparty Yunnan Huijia Import & Export Co. Ltd. The loss was 5.2 billion yuan ($725 million). Yihai Kerry denied allegations by a city prosecution agency that it was involved in the fraud and that all transactions conducted by its Guangzhou unit in the trades were in compliance with normal practices and contractual agreements. In July 2024, there was a media report that alleged Yihai Kerry used

tank trucks A tank truck, gas truck, fuel truck, or tanker truck (American English) or tanker (British English) is a motor vehicle designed to carry liquids or gases on roads. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tank cars, which are also design ...

to transport cooking oil. Yihai Kerry stated it had strict supervision procedures in place for the transportation of cooking oil.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2020 initial public offerings Agriculture companies established in 1988 Companies in the FTSE China A50 Index Companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Hang Seng China 50 Index 1988 in Shanghai

History

See also

References

External links