We help prevent disruption for retailers with supply chain control and enable them to appeal to eco-conscious consumers as we have the people and programs in place to offer traceability and sustainability.
In agriculture, you learn to expect the unexpected. Thanks to our global presence and diversified sourcing, we can always adapt so disruption to your supply is minimized.
Farming can be unpredictable. A harvest might be lower than anticipated. Prices can drop or climb dramatically due to over- or undersupply. But, thanks to being spread across the world and sourcing ingredients from multiple origins, at ofi we can manage these risks. Which means you get reliable supply.
Our diversified global presence also helps to insulate us from supply shocks that may disrupt the production of a particular crop in a particular location in any particular year. It allows us to offer certainty of supply and provide the requisite food safety and quality assurance to our customers through adaptive solutions.
This is supported by our team of risk experts who have deep understanding of agricultural commodities and financial instruments trading to help manage the price changes and volatility that can create a difficult operating environment for producers and supply chain participants. We focus on building long-term partnerships with our customers and offering tailored solutions.
Consumers increasingly want reassurance about where their ingredients come from. Thanks to ofi’s superior traceability, you can give them exactly that.
Providing traceability for agricultural raw materials can be challenging given the complex and fragmented nature of many ingredient supply chains, because many crops tend to be grown by small-scale farmers who sell to an intermediary, who may then sell on to another intermediary, mixing sacks from different sources along the way. With the aim of reducing complexity in our supply chains, we make every effort to work directly with farmers, organising buying stations and local cooperatives.
This way of working not only provides us with the data we need to trace our supply back to the farmer groups we work with, but also provides opportunities to create positive impact by implementing sustainability programmes with customer, government, not for profit and development finance institution partners. With traceability, we can also reduce social and environmental risks such as deforestation and human rights abuses.
We also work closely with large-scale growers such as in California for our onions and garlic. Here, we have long-standing relationships with multi-generational farmers passionate about their crops and stewardship of their land. We provide them with proprietary world-class seeds and our ag operations teams and crop supervisors help support production, harvesting and logistics. Of course, with our own farms and estates such as almonds, black pepper and dairy farms, we offer full traceability and absolute control.
Action includes:
Ensuring all suppliers sign the Supplier Code – which also applies to their suppliers
Training farmers through our sustainability programmes
Providing advice and guidance through our digital applications
ofi’s unique technologies play a vital role in improving traceability:
Olam Direct: the app that lets farmers do business directly with ofi
Olam Farmer Information System (OFIS): putting isolated smallholder farmers on the digital map.
AtSource: our sustainability insights platform which gives you more supply chain transparency than ever before
You expect consistent functionality of ingredients. That’s why we have our own people on the ground at every stage of the supply chain.
Getting better performance from food ingredients starts with the best seeds and seedlings. This is an ongoing mission for our plant scientists and agronomists in their support to farmers. One of our seeds, developed by the Spices team, produces onions with more dry matter—boosting yields and reducing the amount of water, fertiliser and pesticide needed per acre. A great example of the power of plant science.
In our smallholder farmer networks, our sustainability teams provide training on how to get the best quality crops with the lowest environmental impact. For example, with careful use of fertilisers and pesticides, replacing synthetic chemicals with natural alternatives wherever possible.
In addition, our own custom developed planting and harvesting equipment has shown significant reductions in our carbon footprint. We also provide training on how to protect crops post-harvest, providing equipment such as drying mats and tables which help prevent contamination from the soil.
This combination of superior seed, expertise and reduced inputs provides our farmers with well-managed crop risk and yield. All made possible thanks to our global reach and teams working together at every step of the supply chain.
Making sure our ingredients are delivered to customers without contamination or adulteration is our top priority.
We achieve this by:
Operating highly integrated supply chains working with both large-scale growers and smallholders
Providing training and quality seeds to help farmers reduce the risk of contamination
Maintaining the highest standards of quality and food safety control at our processing plants
Continuously investing in safety, health, quality and sustainability
Putting in place food quality and safety systems including GMP and HACCP
ofi (olam food ingredients), a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients, says developments in data and technology – from granular deforestation mapping and child labor monitoring to AI-powered carbon measurement tools – are accelerating progress towards its Cocoa Compass sustainability ambition. It is also providing food and beverage companies with enhanced traceability and transparency ahead of new regulations in Europe and beyond.
The latest Cocoa Compass highlights based on 2022 data include:
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Indonesia Mission Director, Jeff Cohen, said: "We are proud to be working together with ofi and the Hershey Company to encourage cocoa farmers to adopt more sustainable agriculture practices—like diversifying their crops and allowing more trees to remain on their land—which will strengthen their resilience against climate shocks and improve their livelihoods[3].”
How do you differentiate between the environmental impacts of organizations across different geographies, local conditions, products, local regulations etc.?
For several years, ofi has been working towards assessing the true value (cost or benefits) of some of our operations on the ground. Our latest case study on Natural Capital Valuation: Assessing Natural Capital costs in coffee operations, delves into year-on-year monetary impact of our select coffee growing operations in five origins.
Globally, an estimated 12.5 million to 25 million smallholder farmers depend on the coffee industry for their livelihoods, according to figures from Fairtrade1 and the FAO2. However, the majority of these farmers face significant challenges including limited access to formal agronomy training, inadequate resources, small farm sizes and insecure land tenure. These factors often hinder the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, which are crucial for preserving Natural Capital over the medium and long term. As a result, coffee production often imposes a cost on nature in the form of GHG emissions, degradation of soil structure and fertility, depletion of ground and surface water, and loss of natural ecosystem services critical to agricultural production.
To address these challenges, we employ Natural Capital valuation techniques, which leverage environmental economics to assign a monetary value (US$) to our impacts and dependencies, encompassing carbon emissions, water usage and ecosystem services. Quantifying Natural Capital in this way enables us to assess and mitigate risks while fostering investments that promote a positive impact on landscapes and ecosystem.
We evaluated twenty AtSource+ coffee farmer groups sourced from five different origins3 to assess their GHG emissions and water use related Natural Capital Costs (NCC). Reporting on the NCC is based on each metric tonne of product which makes the cost intensities very sensitive/ dependent on farm level yields. Thus, understanding the underlying yield dynamics is also crucial for interpreting these NCC footprints effectively.
The combined expertise of our local sustainability teams with partners such as Funcafé, TechnoServe, Côte d’Ivoire's National Nutrition program, USAID (United States Agency for International Development), and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) delivers solutions to improve access to clean water, healthcare services and supplies, and nutritious food.
Initiatives range from using geo-location to identify and screen for infant malnutrition in farming communities in Côte d'Ivoire - where one in five children experience stunted growth and development - to fortifying key staples with vitamins and minerals in our processing facilities.