                                                                       Exhibit 1


Press Release

        Bunge Raises Second Quarter and Full-Year 2003 Earnings Guidance

Completes Sale of Its Brazilian Ingredients Operations to The Solae Company

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 5, 2003 -- Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) today announced the
sale of its Brazilian ingredients operations to The Solae Company, its joint
venture with DuPont, for $256 million in cash. On April 2, 2003, Bunge announced
the signing of definitive agreements with DuPont to form The Solae Company, and
both DuPont and Bunge completed their initial contribution of operations,
comprising DuPont's Protein Technologies business and Bunge's North American and
European ingredients operations, to Solae.

Commenting on the closing, William Wells, Chief Financial Officer of Bunge,
stated: "The gain on the sale of these operations to The Solae Company --
approximately $111 million, net of tax, or $1.12 per share -- has improved our
outlook for net income for the year. As a result, we are raising our second
quarter 2003 net income guidance to be within a range of $166 million to $171
million, or $1.67 to $1.72 per share, based on 99.6 million shares outstanding.
For the full year 2003, we are raising our guidance to be within a range of $371
million to $381 million, or $3.73 to $3.83 per share." Prior to the closing of
this transaction, Bunge's existing guidance for the 2003 fiscal year was $260 to
$270 million, or $2.62 to $2.72 per share.

The Solae Company debuted in April 2003 and is expected to be one of the world's
premier developers and marketers of branded, soy-based specialty food
ingredients. Initially, the company's annual revenues are expected to exceed
$800 million.

About Bunge

Bunge Limited (www.bunge.com) is an integrated, global agribusiness and food
company operating in the farm-to-consumer food chain with worldwide distribution
capabilities. Founded in 1818 and headquartered in White Plains, New York, Bunge
has over 25,000 employees and locations in 28 countries. Bunge is the largest
processor of soybeans in the Americas, the world's leading oilseed processing
company, the largest producer and supplier of fertilizers to farmers in South
America and the world's leading seller of bottled vegetable oils to consumers.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains both historical and forward-looking statements. All
statements, other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to
be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are not based on
historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations and projections
about our future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. We have
tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words including
"may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "estimate" and
"continue" and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our
actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially
from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. The
following important factors, among others, could affect our business and
financial performance: our ability to complete, integrate and benefit from
acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and alliances; estimated demand for
commodities and other products that we sell and use in our business; industry
conditions, including the cyclicality of the agribusiness industry; economic and
political conditions; and other economic, business, competitive and/or
regulatory factors affecting our business generally. The forward-looking
statements included in this release are made only as of the date of this
release, and except as otherwise required by federal securities law, we do not
have any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements
to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.


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