

                                                                       Exhibit 1


                      Bunge Closes Sale of Stake in Lesieur


WHITE PLAINS, NY - July 3, 2003 - Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) announced today that
its subsidiary, Cereol SA, has sold Lesieur, a French maker of branded bottled
vegetable oils, to Saipol. Saipol is an oilseed processing joint venture between
Cereol and Sofiproteol, the financial institution for the French oilseed
producers. Cereol has a 33.34% interest in Saipol. Sofiproteol controls the
remaining 66.66%. As a result, Bunge retains a 33.34% interest in Lesieur.

Bunge received 186.3 million euros in cash and repayment of Lesieur intercompany
debt owed to Cereol at closing. Bunge will use the net cash proceeds to reduce
other outstanding indebtedness.

About Bunge

Bunge Limited (www.bunge.com) is an integrated, international agribusiness and
food company operating in the farm-to-consumer food chain with worldwide
distribution capabilities and primary operations in North America, South America
and Europe. Founded in 1818 and headquartered in White Plains, New York, Bunge
has over 25,000 employees and locations in 29 countries. Bunge is 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. 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.
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. As such, they 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 future results, causing them to
differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements: our
ability to integrate Cereol's operations and recognize anticipated benefits from
the acquisition, 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 in Brazil and
Argentina; and other economic, political, business, competitive and/or
regulatory factors affecting our business generally. The forward-looking
statements included in this report are made only as of its date, 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.




