Strategic Growth Through Innovation
Argentina has vast natural resources, including energy and agriculture. Within its 2.8 million sq. km. territory, it is endowed with extraordinary fertile land, gas, and lithium reserves. Besides, it has great potential for renewable energy. Thanks to its large-scale agricultural and livestock industries, the country is one of the biggest food producers globally. Moreover, it has significant opportunities in manufacturing sectors and innovative services in high-tech industries. In 2024, Argentina began a process of stabilizing its macroeconomy. Its economy is expected to grow by 5% in 2025, driven by improved weather conditions, investments in the energy sector, and normalization of agricultural production.
Argentina has a small Indian community comprising immigrants and their descendants. Sikhs are a religious minority, with estimated 300 Sikhs living in the country. Among the immigrants Simmarpal Singh is a well-known and successful Sikh Argentine businessman. He is fondly called the 'Peanut Prince of Argentina'.
Simmarpal Singh's Olam Journey
Born into a Sikh family, Simmarpal Singh studied in St. Xavier’s School in Durgapur and earned a degree in B.Sc. Agriculture Sciences from Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, India. His passion for agriculture led him to pursue further studies at Institute of Rural Management Anand in Gujarat, India's western State. Initially, he worked for the National Dairy Development Board and Amul. Later he found a job in Olam International in Mozambique, Africa, as a branch manager. This set the ball rolling for his international ventures, which took him subsequently to Ivory Coast and Ghana, and eventually to Argentina in 2005 as the company's country head.
When Simmarpal Singh arrived in Argentina, Olam International was primarily a trader and processor. Its peanut business was well-established through long-standing contracts with local farmers. Thanks to his business acumen, Simmarpal realised soon that established farmers already had tie-ups with other companies, and hence procuring large quantities of peanuts was a challenging task. Thanks to his credo of seeking an opportunity in the midst of challenges, he hit upon a novel idea. Instead of being dependent solely on local farmers for peanuts, he chalked out an ambitious plan to cultivate peanuts.
Although Olam International had never ventured into large-scale farming earlier, Simmarpal’s vast experience and expertise in the agricultural industry gave the company management confidence in his venture. initially, he began by leasing 700 hectares of land as a pilot project. The success of the project helped him to scale up the operations. He began to cultivate peanuts in 39,000 hectares of land, thereby transforming Olam International into a major player in Argentina’s peanut industry. The company initially made a foray into raw crop farming. As per sources, it currently cultivates 40,000 hectares of crops in various regions of the country.
Olam International
Olam International is an agri-business company that has operations in 60 countries. It supplies food and industrial raw materials to more than 21,000 customers globally. It is the world's largest supplier of cocoa beans, coffee, cotton, and rice.
Olam International has organised its diverse portfolio into two operating groups: ofi (Olam Food Ingredients), and Olam Agri. The rest of the businesses of Olam Group, comprising Nupo Ventures, Mindsprint, and Olam Global Holdco, are focused on driving their respective strategic growth by leveraging their own competitive strengths.
Olam International was founded by Kewalram Chanrai Group in Nigeria in 1989. Olam Nigeria Plc. was established as a non-oil based export company to secure hard currency earnings to meet the foreign exchange requirements of the other group companies operating in Nigeria. After achieving successful results, Olam established an independent export operation. The group's agri-business, operated under the name, Chanrai International Ltd., was headquartered in London until 1996. Thereafter, it began export of cashews from Nigeria, which later expanded into exports of cotton, cocoa, and peanuts.
During 1993-95 the business of Olam grew into multiple operations beginning not only within West Africa but also expanding to East Africa and India. Subsequently, Olam International Ltd. was incorporated in Singapore in 1995 as a public limited company. In 1996, Olam relocated its entire operations from London to Singapore.
Beyond Olam
After over a decade of international exposure, particularly his extraordinary success in Olam’s peanut operations in Argentina, Simmarpal Singh returned to India with a wealth of global expertise and knowledge. His experiences in Latin America and Africa equipped him with confidence and expertise to manage complex agricultural operations, growth strategies, and navigate multicultural environments. On returning with vast agri-business knowledge to his native land, where the agricultural landscape has its own challenges, he wanted to take up the leadership position in a large agri-business. Eventually, he took the reins of Louis Dreyfus Company to oversee its $1-billion business and later COFCO International India. Last year, he joined Terviva, an innovation company in the US, as Chief Operating Officer.
Simmarpal Singh's expertise extends far beyond corporate boardrooms. He is also a mentor for entrepreneurs and an investor in startups, including Knocksense and Snackamor. The power of innovation has been driving his work with these startups. He is a member of the National Council for Agriculture Committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Sustainable Agriculture Task Force of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). He is committed to tapping the potential in agri-business keeping pace with advances in agriculture in India.
(Photo: Courtesy Company)
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