Out-of-control violent crime across downtown Chicago has forced Cofco International Ltd., the trading arm of China’s largest food company, to shift operations outside the metro area to safer suburbs.
Bloomberg spoke with those familiar with the plans to relocate Cofco outside the metro area. They said the move is primarily due to “persistent crime.”
The agricultural commodities trader is planning to move to Oak Brook from the Loop, Chicago’s central business district.
Part of Oak Brook
Oak Brook has several other major corporate headquarters, including Ace Hardware, CenterPoint Properties, Sanford L.P., and TreeHouse Foods Inc.
Cofco confirmed the move but provided no details on where the new headquarters location would be.
Meanwhile, Chicago has been hit with many high-profile headquarters losses, including Caterpillar, Citadel, Boeing, and Tyson Foods. Guggenheim Partners has also joined the exodus.
It’s not just businesses leaving the crime-ridden metro area. The latest Census data for 2023 reveals residents fled the city for states with lower crime rates, such as Texas, Florida, and Arizona.
During a 2021 speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, who has since moved his firm to Miami, said, “It’s becoming ever more difficult to have this as our global headquarters, a city which has so much violence … and I mean Chicago is like Afghanistan, on a good day, and that’s a problem.”
