Making the Future of Cocoa More Sustainable

At ofi (olam food ingredients), sustainability is at the heart of our operations, reflecting our commitment to responsible cocoa sourcing and production. We are a leading supplier of cocoa beans and ingredients, which we can offer to our customers through some of our Cocoa brands such as deZaan. Our drive in sustainability is delivered through our product focused Cocoa Compass strategy in collaboration with our customers and partners and also, contributes to ofi’s overarching sustainability strategy – Choices for Change.

Cocoa Compass is ofi's comprehensive cocoa sustainability strategy, which focuses on improving environmental and social sustainability across four pillars where we believe we can make the most impact:

1. Prosperous farmers

We are not only focused on lifting cocoa farmers out of extreme poverty, but we are also taking steps to help them achieve a level of income that supports farmers to earn enough to cover their basic needs of food, water, housing, education, healthcare, transportation and clothing, as well as manage unexpected costs. The complexity and magnitude of closing the gap between poverty and living income is considerable in many cocoa growing countries but remains our north star as we work to improve farmer livelihoods.

2. Thriving communities

Access to education and freedom from child labor are basic human rights, and it is our belief that these problems should be addressed simultaneously because they are inextricably linked. Addressing these challenges are complex and require collaboration from Governments, NGO’s and the private sector – not one company can solve it on their own. Through supporting children of cocoa farmers, with our customers and partners, our aim is to create opportunities that their parents may not have had, whether in cocoa farming or another profession. The important outcome is that they become part of a thriving local community.

3. Regenerating the living world

We are focused on prosperous farmers, thriving communities and healthy ecosystems co-existing in order to prevent and reduce deforestation as well as reach our long term goal to be forest-positive. One way to look at these issues and mitigate our wider environmental impact is through the measurement of tree carbon stock. This takes into account both the amount of land being used for cocoa farming versus the amount of forest in our supply chain, as well as the quality of the trees and agroforestry systems. All of which are important for carbon capture and promoting biodiversity. Another method is the Natural Capital Accounting, a new and evolving way to look at overall environmental impact. We recognize the need to work with governments and rural farming communities to support environmental stewardship that balances improvements in cocoa farmer livelihoods with protecting forests.

By 2030, our goals include enabling 150,000 cocoa farmers in our supply network to achieve a living income, remediating all identified cases of child labor, distributing 15 million beneficial trees for agroforestry programs and achieving a 30% reduction in natural capital costs.

Our Journey So Far...

• Traceability and Transparency

Achieving sustainability requires robust traceability and transparency. We have established 100% traceability in our direct supply chain, to the farm or community, and implemented child labor monitoring and deforestation monitoring systems. These measures provide valuable data and insights to advance our long-term sustainability goals.

• Empowering Farmers

We have built close relationships with cocoa communities, providing farmers with tools and knowledge to professionalize their practices. In 2023 alone, 176,000 farmers were trained in good agricultural practices. Additionally, 2.5 million cocoa seedlings were distributed to help increase crop yields and incomes.

• Environmental Stewardship

Protecting and restoring forests is a key component of our sustainability efforts. Since 2018, we have distributed 8.9 million trees for agroforestry programs, and by achieving our goal of 100% direct supply chain traceability, we are helping our customers understand the social and environmental impact of their cocoa.

• Making Cocoa Processing Better for the Environment

One of the areas we have the most influence on is reducing greenhouse gas emissions across our cocoa processing facilities. We’ve made significant investments in clean energy.

Our deZaan cocoa processing plants in Indonesia, the Netherlands & Germany use biomass boilers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The boilers use cocoa shells, a by-product of the production process, as fuel to generate steam, which in turn powers the crafting of cocoa ingredients from ofi’s premium brand, deZaan, at its factories in Tangerang, Indonesia, Koog aan de Zaan, Netherlands, and in Mannheim, Germany.

The boiler at Koog aan de Zaan was partly funded by a subsidy from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and took over four years from concept to completion. It will reduce natural gas usage and CO2 emissions at the facility by 50%.

ofi's Cocoa Compass product strategy reflects a holistic approach to environmental and social sustainability, recognizing that the well-being of farmers, communities, and the planet is interconnected. By fostering prosperous farmers, empowered communities, and a healthy planet, ofi is helping drive meaningful change across its supply chain.