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How local cashew processing can be a catalyst for sustainable growth
By Arouna Coulibaly, Managing Director Côte d’Ivoire, ofi (olam food ingredients)
Snack bars, spreads, nut-milks, cookies, and other sweet treats; cashew is becoming an increasingly popular ingredient across applications from bakery to beverages, feeding demand for healthier snacking options and plant-based proteins. Many of these versatile and tasty nuts are produced in Côte d’Ivoire, which is the biggest exporter of cashew in the world. They are one of the country’s top three cash-crops, yet only around 10% of raw cashew is processed locallyi, with the rest shipped to Asia for its more advanced, mechanized facilities at lower costs.
As a result, the value to be created from cashew processing also leaves the country. As the largest processor of cashew in Africa, ofi’s Côte’d’Ivoire team is well-placed to be the change for a more integrated and sustainable value chain. For over a decade, our cashew teams have invested in modern machinery to mechanise and expedite local processing, with the creation of over 3,000 direct jobs at our four private processing facilities, more than 70% of which are held by women.
Recently, we’ve partnered with three national cashew processing units in the country’s northern growing region. Our teams will train workers on proper use of equipment and quality control techniques and help build commercial relationships to enhance marketing prospects for the processed kernels.
To expand these efforts, we are working with the Prosper Cashew project to stimulate growth in the country’s processing sector and increase returns to cashew communities. This latest collaboration between ofi and NGO TechnoServe, will provide technical support to farmers and processors and facilitate access to critically needed working capital.
We are one of many actors in the supply chain trying to address intractable challenges like rural poverty and child labor, so multi-stakeholder action is critical to deliver meaningful change at scale. The combined technical and on-the-ground resources of these partnerships will also build on some of our existing programs at farm-gate, where smallholders often battle low yields and quality from a lack of finance, inputs, and training. These include increasing agricultural productivity, reducing waste with improved crop residue management, and community development initiatives focused on tackling malnutrition and building health and sanitation infrastructure. This will contribute to our 2030 target under Cashew Trail for our teams around the world to support the livelihoods of 250,000 cashew households.
Stepping up value-generating activities in producing countries by processing at source, creates traceable cashew kernels with a lower carbon footprint, along with jobs and economic opportunity for farmers, workers, and communities for the long-term. It leaves better-quality cashew that delivers on both sensory and sustainability expectations.
i Reuters
How can companies implement effective workforce nutrition programs?
By Clara Tessler, Nutrition & Health Manager, ofi
Malnutrition and poor health around the world continue to negatively impact businesses as result of working days lost to illness and reduced workforce productivity.
As well as benefiting employees, investments by companies in health and wellbeing can lead to better employee engagement, reduced absenteeism and higher performance and productivity.
We want to create an environment where employees want to come to work every day – it’s in everyone’s best interest.
To that end, at ofi we’ve set a goal that by 2030, everyone in our primary workforce will have access to nutrition support. This is the goal we are working towards to ensure the health and wellbeing of all our employees, driven by our purpose to be the change for good food and healthy future.
In 2021, with support from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), ofi began the roll-out of the Workforce Nutrition Alliance’s Workforce Nutrition Scorecard to assess our baseline and develop or strengthen workplace nutrition programs that tackle issues related to malnutrition across our worksites globally. This includes initiatives across four pillars: healthy food at work, nutrition education, nutrition-focused and breastfeeding support, and resources for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
Discover more from my discussion with GAIN and the Consumer Goods Forum in the Healthier Lives podcast:
ofi drives climate action in global cocoa supply chain
ofi (olam food ingredients), a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients, says it substantially advanced towards the climate goals stated in its Cocoa Compass sustainability report 2020/21 – the year of COP26. In order to achieve the structural change required to have an impact at scale, the report makes clear that work on the ground in cocoa communities should be supported by international collaboration and regulation.
In the report, published today, ofi shares its sustainability progress across its cocoa supply chain, achieved in collaboration with customers and partners, and benchmarked against three years of impact data. From the Brazilian Amazon to the landscapes of Côte d’Ivoire, the company has taken further steps to protect and restore forests: it distributed 1.75m trees to farmers (a 356% increase since 2017/18) and enhanced the accuracy of its deforestation monitoring, having polygon mapped two-thirds of its sustainability programs.
ofi also invested to reduce its CO2 emissions per metric ton of product output from its cocoa processing facilities, down by 19% since 2018, by installing circular biomass boilers fueled by waste cocoa shells and switching to green electricity. The boiler at the Koog aan de Zaan facility in the Netherlands, where it produces its premium cocoa ingredient brand, deZaan, will now allow ofi to target a further 50% cut in natural gas usage, which will lead to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.
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