Bayer named best chemical and pharmaceutical company in Brazil

Bayer has announced that it has been named Brazil’s best chemical and pharmaceutical company.

The result follows a survey conducted by Epoca Negocios Magazine of 12,000 consumers, in which they were asked to rank over 200 local and international organisations.

Criteria in the survey included trust, quality, social and environmental responsibility and innovation, with Bayer finishing first on all criteria in both the chemical and pharmaceutical branch.

Dr Richard Pott, member of the Board of Management for the Americas, Africa and Middle East at Bayer, said: “We are very proud of this recognition. It is proof of the extraordinary commitment of our employees in Brazil.”

The company reported sales of approximately 1.2 billion euros (1.02 billion pounds) over 2007 in Brazil, making the country one of the company’s ten largest worldwide markets.

Additionally, Bayer announced investments of around 100 million euros at its sites in the country, through to the end of 2009 – with 20 social projects including the Bayer soccer academy.

The news follows the company’s CropScience division’s announcement that it will be developing new high-yielding varieties of rice.

Planning to increase the production volume eightfold by 2017, the company plans to expand the breeding and marketing of commercial rice seed in the region.