Olam Food Ingredients (ofi)

  • Sector: Consumer Products, Food, Beverage, Agribusiness and Fisheries
  • Headquarters: Singapore

Review summary

Olam Food Ingredients (ofi) submitted its new sustainability strategy Choices for Change and its 2023 Annual Report to ‘Its Now for Nature’ and met all the criteria to be part of the campaign.

Reviewed June 2024

  • Ofi has conducted a double materiality assessment that addresses nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities across its value chain.
  • The focus areas important to ofi and its stakeholders are: economic opportunity, diversity and inclusion, education and skills, human rights, nutrition and health, climate action, ecosystems and biodiversity, water, healthy soils, packaging and waste, traceability, supplier engagement and verification. ​
  • For example, areas of impact for healthy soils ofi is looking at soil degradation, pesticides/herbicides and fertilisers access and overuse.

  • Having identified material topics, ofi developed targets for each topic, along with associated metrics to track its annual performance. ​
  • Ofi has regenerative landscape targets and metrics for 3 impact areas: climate action, living landscape, becoming forest positive.​
  • An example target on becoming forest positive is by 2025 ofi commits to: ​
    1. Transparent monitoring across all ofi supply chains for deforestation risks and ​
    2. To have deforestation action plans in place across all high-risk suppliers.​
  • By 2030 ofi commits: ​
    1. All off direct supply chains are deforestation free
    2. Negligible risk of deforestation in indirect supply chains
    3. Increase in tree carbon stock across 10 off strategic landscapes

  • For every impact area (climate action, living landscape, becoming forest positive); concrete actions are being catalogued.​
  • For example, for regenerative agriculture, ofi’s concrete actions are: ​

– Improving soil health: Fertility management, composting, cover crops, erosion control, sustainable biochar.

– Improving water management: Irrigation technology, riparian buffers, catchment management.

– Enhancing biodiversity on farms: Crop varieties, pruning and green manure, intercropping, agroforestry, wildlife corridors, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and avoidance of banned pesticides.

Ofi’s CEO and CSO introduced and signed off on the Choices for Change strategy. The Annual Report is also approved by the C-suite.