ofi (olam food ingredients), a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients and solutions, has been assessed as the most advanced out of 22 companies in the 2023-2024 Platform Living Wage Financials (PLWF)[i] benchmark for the Food Agri and Food Retail sectors.
A PLWF spokesperson said: “ofi has demonstrated notable progress in its commitment to living incomes, evidenced by its progression to the ‘Advanced’ category in the 2024 assessment cycle and its target of 200,000 ofi farmer households achieving a living income by 2030.”
A living income is a net annual income needed for a decent standard of living[ii]. For many smallholder farmers, this is a major challenge. Roel van Poppel, ofi's Chief Sustainability Officer, acknowledged the difficulty. "A living income is our North Star," he said. "But we know many farmers in our supply chains face multiple challenges.”
ofi’s work with Wageningen University & Research[iii] highlights that for many smallholders, cultivating crops like coffee makes good economic sense, but they often lack the minimum farm size and yield levels to achieve an annual living income. “By focusing on improving the efficiency of time spent on coffee farming, we can target interventions that are directly in our sphere of influence, like, training, access to adequate inputs, and hand-held mechanization.” van Poppel explained. "Our approach is to tailor on-the-ground interventions and collaborate with customers and other organizations to help farmers move closer to a living income."
PLWF credited ofi’s strategic approach for its ‘Advanced’ ranking. They noted the company’s method of segmenting farmers based on farm size and yield, which allows it to create customized support packages. By 2030, ofi aims to provide this enhanced[iv] support to one million farmers.
ofi is already partnering with around 500,000 farmers annually through its sustainability programs. As of 2023, approximately 50,000 households in its sourcing network had achieved a living income[v]. ofi has also made its living income measurement tool available to the broader food and agri sector via the SaaS platform TRACT.
"Measuring income gaps is the crucial first step" van Poppel added. "That’s why we’re collaborating with partners like Nestlé and IDH to create a shared approach to help farmers prosper and become more resilient."
Mark Birch of IDH praised ofi's partnership, highlighting its role in the Business Action Committee for the Living Income Roadmap:
"It is encouraging to see that ofi made its innovative living income measurement tool publicly accessible. Something IDH supported by facilitating an independent external evaluation and participating to guide the ongoing development of the tool" he said. "This year, we're also working with ofi on a pioneering initiative to improve the livelihoods of cashew farmers in Côte d’Ivoire; a sector that has historically seen limited focus in living income interventions.”
Valerie Janssen from Wageningen University & Research also commented:
"We value ofi's dynamic collaboration, the time and expertise they bring to discussions, as well as the dataset they made available for our latest research paper on living income.”
