Commodity Shuttle: Cooperatives industrialize and become agricultural powers

The phase in which cooperatives only enabled the producer to produce more and market their products has passed. Increasingly occupying space in agribusiness, they became agricultural powers.

Cooperatives in Paraná, one of the main states in the Brazilian agricultural scenario, ended the first semester with record revenues of R$ 90 billion, 25% more than in the same period last year.

Their performance in the state is so good that the plan to reach R$ 200 billion in revenue per year can be achieved ahead of schedule.

The estimate for this year is a turnover of R$ 180 billion. In an optimistic scenario, however, the sector’s financial result could reach R$ 200 billion in just two years. In a more conservative scenario, this goal would come in four years.

The result is possible because the cooperative system of Paraná already has 120 agro-industrial units, and at least half of the revenue is generated by these agro-industries. A good part still comes from exports, which totaled US$ 3.6 billion from January to June.

The objective now is to identify demand and act within the needs of the market, says José Roberto Ricken, president of Sistema Ocepar, in Paraná.

Cooperatives seek viable projects and aim at an economic organization of people. A producer with only ten bushels of land can make activities related to the production of grains, poultry, swine, milk and fish viable, says Ricken.

This diversity allows the producer to reduce the risks that may eventually occur in one of his activities, according to him.

For the president of Ocepar, professionalization in the sector today allows a cooperative to compete with any other large company in the country. A large company, on the other hand, finds it difficult to compete with cooperatives.

It has passed the phase of just seeking to increase productivity, obtain a greater volume of products and offer them to the market, says Ricken.

Cooperatives began to occupy more space and seek more segments, as long as there is demand. And the great advantage of this is that all these revenues revolve within the region itself. This year, the cash surplus to be distributed to producers should reach R$ 8.5 billion.

Cooperatives that industrialize their products achieve a net return of up to 5%. The others are in the 2% margin.

Ricken, who participated in Digital Agro da Frísia, a fair that seeks innovations for the sector, held in Curitiba (PR), says that agriculture still has a lot to do in this field. Those who do not update, however, will have increasing difficulties.

Non-adherence to the technology will mainly affect the isolated producer. He is hostage to the market, says the president of the entity. “It is not enough to produce. This production has to reach the consumer’s table, which is easier through cooperatives or organized producers.”

Cooperatives, which started with milk and wheat, moved on from coffee to grains and proteins, are looking for new areas in frontier regions.

Frísia, from Campos Gerais (PR), a cooperative about to complete one hundred years, opted for an expansion in Tocantins. “We need to grow more horizontally, to fix the new generations in other regions”, says Renato Greidanus, director-president of the entity.

After a search initiated for areas with good logistics, soil and climate, the cooperative opted for Tocantins. Leaving the comfort zone of the lands of Paraná for these new areas is a challenge, says Greidanus. But, just as the producer overcame the challenges encountered in Paraná in the 1960s and 1970s, he will adapt even more quickly to these new regions.

The advance is timid at the beginning, according to him, but the achievements and the example of the cooperative members should encourage new producers in the region to join the system.

Since opportunities and challenges go hand in hand, Frísia should move from capturing grain to industrializing its products in a second phase, says the CEO.

Between 2021 and 2026, cooperatives from Paraná will invest R$ 30.3 billion. This year, it will be R$ 6.2 billion. The harvest storage and receipt sector will have R$ 4.9 billion; the barley industry and swine farming will have investments close to R$ 1 billion each.

The cooperatives in Paraná, with the new projects in progress, should hold 65% of the state’s swine production. The participation in birds goes to 50%; the one in soy, at 70%; in corn, at 62%; in wheat, to 55%.

In addition to individual growth, cooperatives seek alliances among themselves. There are at least ten areas with this potential. Among them, financing and capitalization, business cooperation, international market and sustainability.

The Ocepar System includes the agribusiness, infrastructure, credit, transport, consumption, health and work sectors.