Canpotex driven by vision of a more food-secure world
Of the world’s current population of 7.6 billion people, an estimated 815 million people are living in hunger, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The challenge will only intensify as the earth’s population continues to expand to an anticipated 9 billion people by the year 2050.
Canpotex is driven by the vision of a more food-secure world. Headquartered in Saskatoon, Canpotex is the world’s leading exporter of high-quality Canadian potash. Potash contains potassium, a nutrient essential for healthy plant growth. Through the balanced application of fertilizer, including potassium (K), nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P), crop yield and food quality increase significantly.
Marketing exclusively to overseas markets, Canpotex sells and delivers over 15 grades of potash produced in Saskatchewan on behalf of its two shareholders: Nutrien and Mosaic. The company’s largest markets include Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
A few weeks ago, Canpotex president and CEO Ken Seitz was standing in a rice paddy in rural Viet Nam, talking with local farmers. He was there to participate firsthand in the company’s farmer education program that has delivered agricultural education programming to farmers in approximately 40 countries around the world.
“You get to work with farmers, lovely people all over the world, who face many of the same challenges our local farmers face here. We’re able to improve their livelihoods and their families. It’s a very fulfilling experience,” says Seitz.
The sessions, which include workshops and infield demonstrations, teach farmers how to use potash to grow better food. Test plots show the difference between crops grown in unfertilized soil and in soil with balanced fertilization. “It’s a pretty visual and dramatic demonstration,” says Seitz.
Since the program’s inception over three decades ago, Canpotex has invested approximately $50 million in market development initiatives, including farmer education programs, around the globe.
“We take a tailored approached for every region where we do business, taking into account different agricultural crops, weather patterns, soil conditions, culture, language and business practices,” says Seitz.
As part of its Fertilizer Management Program, Canpotex also brings customers from different countries to Saskatchewan, to see how potash is mined, produced and shipped to port. “It’s an opportunity for Canpotex to demonstrate that we are shipping and supplying potash in a responsible and efficient manner,” says Seitz. “They head back to their home countries with a broader understanding of what it is that we do here, the size of the undertaking that is involved to get potash from landlocked Saskatchewan to the palm oil plantations in Indonesia.”
The group of 20 international representatives spent two weeks in September in Canada, toured provincial potash mines, attended sessions at the University of Saskatchewan, saw Canpotex’s rail car maintenance facility near Lanigan and visited several farming operations. The final stop was at Canpotex’s Neptune Bulk Terminal in Vancouver, where potash is loaded onto vessels for overseas destinations.
“The program has been running for two years now and has been remarkably successful. The feedback has been incredible from participants, and I have no doubt that many lasting friendships have been formed with people from different corners of the planet,” says Seitz.
While Canpotex markets exclusively to overseas customers, the company takes its responsibilities as local citizens very seriously.
Canpotex is proud to support a number of local community initiatives that contribute positively to the food security of children. For the second year in a row, Canpotex matched the public’s donations up to $50,000 to the Milk for Children program offered at the Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre.
Seitz points out that of the 20,000 people who visit the Saskatoon Food Bank each month, almost half are children. The initiative spearheaded by Canpotex raised over $100,000 for the Milk for Children program this year, accounting for two-thirds of the program’s annual budget.
“We are also very proud that our employees have volunteered hundreds of hours at the Food Bank. There’s an incredible need there and this is something we’re very committed to,” says Seitz.
Canpotex has also made a three-year commitment to the Salvation Army, donating $26,000 annually to sponsor the Canpotex Weekend Investment in Nutrition program. This program provides children with backpacks filled with nutritious, child-friendly food.
Canpotex is also pleased to support the annual Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation Radiothon. That donation is helping to equip the Children’s Hospital with infant formula warmers.
“There’s a real need here in Saskatoon to promote food security and address child hunger, a more substantive need than people really understand,” says Seitz.
“Canpotex has been operating in Saskatoon since 1972 and we intend to be here for a long time to come. There’s no better reason to get involved in these community initiatives than to say, it’s the right thing to do. We can mobilize our people to volunteer where there’s a need. We have some financial resources that we can deploy in our home community. It’s just the right thing to do.”