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The Covid-19 pandemic put some wrinkles in Bunge’s relocation effort, but did not slow down its move. The company (NYSE: BG) in June 2020 closed its former headquarters location in White Plains, New York. 

Prior to relocating its global headquarters here, Bunge long had a presence in the region. Its North American operations had been based locally since 1990, and the company had about 525 employees here prior to the relocation.  Bunge’s headquarters switch has boosted its local employment to about 650, said Chief HR and Communications Officer Deborah Borg. The company employed 180 in White Plains, but eliminated some duplicate roles as part of its relocation, Borg said. 

In establishing its global headquarters in Chesterfield, Bunge hired about 55 people from the local community in addition to those who relocated from New York.  “As we have had to fill those other roles from the local talent pool, the quality of people, the skill sets, their experience has been very good. We’ve been able to continue to strengthen the team as we fill in. I’ve been very impressed with the talent here in the St. Louis area,” Heckman said.  Borg said one positive of relocating during the pandemic is that some former White Plains employees who originally didn’t plan to make the move decided to change their mind, with the pandemic giving them a new perspective on where they’d like to live. Borg said Bunge welcomed their revised decision.

Two years after relocating its corporate headquarters to Chesterfield, Bunge — which now employs 650 locally — has registered seven consecutive quarters of increased earnings. It posted a profit of $1.1 billion, or $7.71 per share, in fiscal 2020, nearly reversing the $1.3 billion loss from 2019. For much of this year, the company provided Wall Street a year-end outlook suggesting 2021 earnings would decrease slightly. But the strength of its recent performance prompted Bunge in late July to revise those estimates. It's now forecasting year-end earnings of $8.50 per share, up from an earlier estimate of $7.50.

Now that it's back on a growth trajectory, Bunge is ready to expand. It's eyeing both internal investment and mergers and acquisitions, setting its sights on fast-growing areas such as plant-based proteins and renewable fuels, believing it's well-positioned to capitalize on those trends.