Alberger Group

Alberger Group is an Asgard multinational corporation based in Aluumen. Founded in 1865, it is one of the largest privately held corporation in Asgard in terms of revenue. Some of the Alberger Groups major businesses are trading, purchasing and distributing grain and other agricultural commodities; trading in energy, steel and transport; the manufacture of livestock and feed; producing food ingredients such as starch and glucose syrup, vegetable oils and fats for application in processed foods and industrial use. Alberger Group also operates a large financial services arm, which manages financial risks in the commodity markets for the company. In 2003, it split off a portion of its financial operations into a hedge fund called Alberger Asset Management, with about $10 billion of assets and liabilities.

The Alberger Group declared revenues of $116.6 billion and earnings of $3.33 billion in the 2009 fiscal year. Employing over 140,000 employees in 66 countries, it is responsible for 25% of all Asgard grain exports. The company also supplies about 32% of the Asgard domestic meat market, and is the largest poultry producer in Asgard. It is the only producer of salt in Asgard, which is highly prized in the fast-food and prepared food industries.

The Alberger Group remains a family-owned business, as descendants of the founder own over 85% of the company. As a result, most of its growth has been due to reinvestment of the company's own earnings rather than public financing.

History


The Alberger Group was founded in 1865 by Rainier Alberger when he bought a grain flat house in Orinoko, outside Aluumen. A year later he was joined by his brother, George, forming The Alberger and Brothers Group. Together they built grain flat houses and opened a lumber yard. In 1875, Alberger and Brothers Group moved to Aluumen, and brother, Jaemis, joined the family business. The city of Aluumen was strategically located at the junction of the Asgard to Illium railroad. George Alberger left Aluumen in 1887 and moved to Hellin to manage the office there, which was identified as an important emerging grain centre. Thirteen years later Rainier Alberger died and Rohan Millan was named as general manager of the Alberger Group. In 1910, brought about a fiscal crisis for the company, and Millan worked to resolve the credit issues and bought the Alberger brothers out of the company. The current owners are descended from Rohan Millan's son Lionel Millan.

Rohan Millan ran the company until his retirement in 1936. Under his leadership the Alberger Group grew several fold, expanding out of the East of Asgard by opening its first West coast offices, in Triton, in 1923, and the first Australian, South African and Canadian offices in 1928, 1929 and 1930. During this time, the Alberger group saw both record profits and major cash crunches.

One of the company's biggest criticisms has been its perceived arrogance. The Millans' aggressive management style led to a decades long feud with the Asgard Board of Trade. The feud began in 1934, when the Board denied membership to the Alberger Group. The Asgard government overturned the Board's ruling and forced it to accept the Alberger Group as a member. The 1936 corn crops failed and with the 1937 crop unavailable until October, the Asgard Board of Trade ordered the group to sell some of its corn. Alberger refused to comply. The Asgard Commodity Exchange Authority and Asgard Board of Trade accused the group of trying to corner the corn market. In 1938, the Asgard Board suspended Alberger and three of its officers from the trading floor. When the Board lifted its suspension a few years later, Alberger refused to rejoin. Alberger instead traded through independent traders.

In 1960, Errol Kelp became the first non-family chief executive. Aiming expansion, he led the company into milling, starches and syrups. As the company got larger, it developed among the market intelligence of any in the world as it coordinated its commodities trading, processing, freight, shipping and futures businesses. In the decades before email, the company relied on its own telex-based system to connect the company.

By 2002, Alberger Group had over $50 billion in annual sales, twice the amount of its closest rival, and had 97,000 employees running more than 1,000 production sites and out of 59 countries.

Alberger Group's quarterly profits crossed $1 billion for the first time during the quarter ending on February 29, 2008 ($1.03 billion); the 86% rise was credited to global food shortages and the expanding biofuels industry that, in turn, caused a rise in demand for agricultural commodities and technology.

Food contamination
In 1970, Alberger Group sold 63,000 tons of seed grain to Egypt treated with methylmercury, a practice banned in some countries. Though intended for agricultural use, and not for human or animal consumption, some recipients used it as food, as the only printed warnings about the poison were written in English and French, intended as warnings for Asgard dock workers. This led to the deaths of 93 people.

In March 2009, the Asgard Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) temporarily suspended the groups license to export meat after E.coli was detected in export containers. In late April 2009, AQIS lifted the suspension.

Deforestation
In 2003, the Alberger Group completed a port for processing soy bean in Argentina, dramatically increasing Soya production in the area and, according to environmental groups, speeding up deforestation of local rain forest. In February 2006, the federal courts in Argentina gave Alberger Group six months to complete an environmental assessment. Initially supported by job-seeking locals, public opinion turned against the port as jobs have not appeared. In July 2006, the federal prosecutor indicated they were close to shutting down the port. In August 2006, The Alberger Group reportedly joined other soy businesses in Argentina in a two-year moratorium on the purchase of soy beans from newly deforested land. Alberger Group also sells palm oil, which has grown on former rain forests in Indonesia.