Geographies of the firm and transnational agro-food corporations in East Asia

Agro-food transnational corporations (TNCs) are pivotal players in the emer gent regulatory structures of the East Asian agro-food system, but there ha s been little explicit concern to account theoretically or empirically for their prevailing socio-spatial practices and strategies. This paper uses th e case of Nestle in South East Asia to make three claims. First, transnatio nal corporate strategy is best understood as comprising an interaction of r estructuring processes within the arenas of production, realisation (sales) , and reproduction (corporate finance and investment). Second, the analysis of agro-food transnationals in Asia requires elevated attention to the loc al regulation of food systems. Third, in Nestle's case at least, the articu lation of global strategies with local arenas of production and markets enc ourages corporate finance to play a key role in the generation of profit. T his is evidenced through the extensive use of intra-firm trade and royalty payments (or, related party transactions) by Nestle in Thailand.