Niche soy processor CJ Selecta aims to buy more Brazil certified soy

By Ana Mano

Soy processor CJ Selecta, a unit of South Korea's CJ CheilJedang 097950, aims to certify twice as much genetically modified soybeans in Brazil through the RTRS certification system, said Patricia Sugui, the firm's head of ESG.

Speaking on the sidelines of a two-day sustainable soy event that ended on Thursday in Sao Paulo, Sugui estimated the firm originates between 800,000 and 1 million metric tons of soybeans in Brazil yearly.

Some 50% of CJ's purchases are GMO soy, she said. However, only about one-third is certified.

"We want to double that by 2027," Sugui said.

The other half of CJ's soy origination in Brazil, comprised of non-GMO soy, is 100% certified by the ProTerra standard, she said.

Increasing origination of certified soy is a boon to the processing industry's reputation and can reduce soy's carbon footprint.

Sugui said that according to CJ measurements, each kilogram of SPC produced by the company in Brazil generates between 0.388 and 0.617 kilograms of CO2 equivalent. This compares to some international calculations that, using methodologies that do not take into account the peculiarities of Brazilian tropical agriculture, place the carbon footprint of soybeans produced here between 4 and 6 kilos, Sugui said. "These figures don't represent us."

The RTRS standard involves production, trade and use of responsible soy involving multiple stakeholders in the supply chain.

In 2024, RTRS-certified soybean production exceeded 6.8 million tons worldwide, according to data from The Roundtable on Responsible Soy Association, a Switzerland-based non-profit outfit that provides the RTRS certification. Brazil accounted for 80% of that.

CJ exports soy by-products to 39 countries, including soy protein concentrate (SPC) used as meal to feed fish.

In January, Sugui said, CJ tested a pilot system for tracking a 16,000-ton SPC cargo destined for Europe ahead of enforcement of the continent's new deforestation law, which requires a specially-created logistics chain.

The EU law bans imports of commodities including soy, beef, cocoa and palm oil linked to forest destruction.