Corporate Briefing

Katie Davidson Jana McConnell Rebecca Rasmussen Stacie Schaefer Products and Services

The Enkhuizen, Netherlands center of Syngenta is responsible for the research, production, processing, sales and marketing of the company’s flower and vegetable seeds. Syngenta is the world’s leader in the production of pansies and geraniums as well as poinsettias and impatiens. Over one billion young plants and 500 million cuttings are produced annually at this site. Syngenta uses an exclusive tray, called an Xtray, to deliver plants and cuttings to growers throughout the European continent. This tray allows the plants to be delivered safely and efficiently to growers. It is also reusable as each Xtray produced and delivered is eventually returned to Syngenta for reuse.

Syngenta partners with the Dutch seed company, Sluis & Groot, and the German vegetative company, Fischer, in order to perform plant breeding research to increase the technology and traits of their flower seeds. Traits that Syngenta focuses on include: color, shape, size, longevity, drought and bacteria resistance.

Syngenta’s vegetable seed produces a variety of breeds including tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, melons, brassica, and cucumbers. The business is recognized under the brand names of: S&G, Rogers, Dulcinea, and Daehenfeldt. The company is currently the world’s second leading vegetable seed company. Syngenta vegetable seed strategy is based upon three main values: their proprietary crop portfolio, an expanding global presence, and the consideration of consumer preferences in the organization’s product design phase.

In addition to flower and vegetable seeds that are produced at the Enkhuizen, Netherlands center, Syngenta also has other various products and brands within Syngenta. They include fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, seed care, home care, lawn and garden, and field crops.

Markets Served

Syngenta is a leading global agribusiness. Currently Syngenta is active in four regional markets. The largest ones are North America (NAFTA) and Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME). Both NAFTA and EAME markets represent approximately one third of the overall sales of Syngenta. Syngenta is also in the Latin America (LATAM) market. The LATAM market is a high growth emerging market, and Syngenta is gaining further market share in Brazil, which is the world’s largest domestic agriculture market. In addition to these markets, Syngenta is also in the Asia Pacific (APAC) market. The APAC market is a fast-developing market.

Marketing Activities

Syngenta currently ranks third in the commercial seeds market and is an industry leader in crop protection. Sales in 2007 were approximately $9.2 billion. Syngenta employs over 21,000 people in more than 90 countries (Weber Shandwick April 2008 press release). Syngenta uses advertising agencies Weber Shandwick and Campbell Mithun as their agencies of record for public relations and advertising. They also have spokespeople, usually CEO Michael Mack, make regular television appearances on CNBC and Bloomberg TV to talk about feeding the world and rural development in agriculturally poor countries. Mack also writes contributing articles in Newsweek, The Times and The Financial Times. In addition to television and print media appearances, Syngenta has a Progress Report and Action Plan to generate its marketing focus. The plan centers on five different aspects of Syngenta’s activities: Sustainable agriculture, Products, People, Environment and Ethics and business practices. Here are the area’s sub-headings, according to www.syngenta.com/en/corporate_responsibility/progressaction.html: Sustainable Agriculture

- Soil conservation

- Water quality

- Biodiversity

- Integrated crop management (ICM) and integrated pest management (IPM)

Products

- Product innovation and sales

- Public health

- Product stewardship – Training

- Product stewardship – Auditing and verification

- Product stewardship – Biotechnology regulatory compliance

- Health, safety and environment (HSE) in production and supply

People

- People retention

- Employee satisfaction

- Diversity

- Employee development

- Health and safety

- Economic value shared

Environment

- Energy

- Water

- Greenhouse gases

- Air emissions

- Waste - Effluent (waste water)

- Environmental compliance

Ethics and Business Practices

- Corporate conduct

- Human rights

- Animal welfare

Interesting marking activities

- Field advertising (image below is from a field near Zurich airport)

- Syngenta focuses on global advertising and uses campaigns that are relevant to farmers around

the world

o Egyptian ad through Bos, Toronto, Canada – “Forget the Pyramids. The real wonder is what Ancient Egyptians can teach you about farming.”

- Here is another ad for Syngenta’s product, Monument, which is the top selling commercial weed killer for sports grounds. It appeared in Australian Turf Magazine, which wanted an ad that told customers the product was easier in its new liquid form. Strategic Direction

Syngenta has two main divisions consisting of Crop Protection and Seeds. According to the company website, Syngenta’s global agribusiness market has a volume of approximately $60 billion, more than half of which represents crop protection products. Syngenta’s crop protection division has experienced 22 consecutive quarters of growth and is expected to continue growing, especially in emerging markets. Syngenta’s strategic direction consists of growth and increased market performance through acquisitions, collaborations, expansion into emerging markets and innovation.

Syngenta has acquired several agribusiness companies worldwide. Recent notable acquisitions include the Argentine seed company SPS in November 2008, the chrysanthemum and aster business lines from U.S. flower producers Yoder Brothers in October 2008 and the U.S. flower seed producer Goldsmiths Seeds, also in October 2008. Approximately 1,500 employees joined Syngenta as a result of these acquisitions. Syngenta also acquired assets from Bulgarian distributor AgroStar in October 2008 and plans to set up its own organization in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Syngenta also has many collaborations and partnerships with other agribusiness companies and universities. In February 2009, Syngenta formed collaboration with Anhui Rice Research Institute of the Anhui Academy of Agricultural Studies in China. This partnership is just one of many that Syngenta has with universities worldwide. Other recent collaborations include a research and development agreement with Dow AgroSciences to develop Dow compounds for use in Syngenta Seed Care. Syngenta also agreed to a crop protection technology exchange with DuPont that will broaden each company’s crop protection portfolios and enable them to bring new products to the market more efficiently.

Emerging markets are a huge focus for Syngenta, particularly in the regions of Latin America and Asia Pacific. In 2008, Syngenta began building a major global biotech research center in Beijing, China. This center will have a global scope and will offer opportunities to work closely with Chinese research institutes. Research centers have been opened in other emerging markets as well. For example, Syngenta opened a chemical R&D center was opened in Goa, India, in 2007. Acquisitions in other emerging markets, such as Argentina, also help increase Syngenta’s presence and growth worldwide. Syngenta does approximately $4 billion worth of business in emerging markets, a figure that is expected to grow in the future.

The aforementioned collaborations and acquisitions help contribute to Syngenta’s other growth factor of innovation. According to the Syngenta website, the company’s R&D focuses on eight core technology platforms that give Syngenta fundamental capabilities and provide a new paradigm for active ingredient invention, practical routes to novel crop varieties and fast tracking to market. Syngenta’s innovation efforts augment the company’s long-term strategic goal of sustainable agriculture that focuses on agricultural productivity, efficient land and water use, biodiversity and product stewardship, among other areas.

References www.syngenta.com www.syngenta.com/en/corporate_responsibility/progressaction.html