ofi aims to scale positive impact with appointment of Chief Sustainability Officer

London, January 17, 2024

 

ofi, a leading supplier of naturally good food and beverage ingredients, is pleased to announce Roel van Poppel as its Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO). He will take responsibility for scaling ofi’s ability to drive positive impact across its five leading product platforms - cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts, and spices, with operations across ~50 countries. He will report directly to CEO A. Shekhar and be a member of the Corporate Leadership Team.

 

Roel is an industry leader with extensive experience across both ingredients and sustainability. This includes senior leadership roles at Cargill and Wild Flavors before joining ofi’s parent company Olam Group in 2013 as the global commercial lead for its spices business. He then moved internally to lead the growth of the award-winning sustainability insights management system AtSource. Most recently, Roel was seconded by Olam Group as a co-founder of the wider industry led sustainability measurement digital platform TRACT.  

 

ofi aims to source, grow, and produce sustainable food ingredients that are good for consumers, farmers and the world around us. Along with his leadership team, Roel will bring further focus to ofi’s rich experience and deep expertise in addressing the multiple social and environmental challenges in food supply chains such as farmer poverty, deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions. His key areas of focus will include:

 

  • Strengthening and embedding the ofi sustainability vision, strategy, and goals to deliver positive outcomes for farmer suppliers, customers and wider eco-system partners.
  • Partnering with customers and suppliers to drive change and deliver impact up and down the value chain, particularly through AtSource.
  • Anticipating and preparing for regulatory changes to provide customers with compliant and reliable supply.
  • Engaging wider stakeholder groups and expanding multi-stakeholder partnerships.
  • Continuing the development of rigorous tools to address key issues in the food & agri sector.
  • Driving robust, transparent, and verifiable reporting.

 

Commenting on the appointment, ofi CEO, A. Shekhar said: “Sustainability sits at the heart of ofi’s business model so that we can partner with customers who want their products to benefit farmers and the planet. Roel brings the perfect mix of strategic vision, business acumen and commercial leadership to inspire the whole of ofi to continually deliver on our purpose to Be the Change for Good Food and a Healthy Future.”

 

Roel van Poppel added: “It’s a privilege to lead the ofi Sustainability team with its depth of expertise and relentless commitment. My mission is to grow the reach of ofi’s programs even further, collaborating with customers and suppliers on the ground to drive positive impact. Together, we will ignite greater opportunities and game-changing outcomes for ofi and our partners.”

 

Discover much more about what ofi has to offer at ofi.com

About ofi

ofi (olam food ingredients) is a new operating group born out of Olam. ofi offers sustainable, natural, value-added food products and ingredients so that consumers can enjoy the healthy and indulgent products they love. It consists of industry-leading businesses of cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts, and spices. ofi has built a unique global value chain presence including its own farming operations, farm-gate origination, and manufacturing facilities. ofi partners with customers, leveraging its complementary and differentiated portfolio of ‘on-trend’ food products, to co-create solutions that anticipate and meet changing consumer preferences as demand increases for healthier food that’s traceable and sustainable. To subscribe to the ofi newsroom, please visit www.ofi.com/news-and-events (privacy statement here). If you do not wish to receive information from ofi please contact media@ofi.com.

 

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About Olam

Olam Group is a leading food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients, feed, and fiber to 20,200 customers worldwide. Our value chain spans over 60 countries and includes farming, processing, and distribution operations, as well as a global network of farmers. Through our purpose to ‘Re-imagine Global Agriculture and Food Systems’, Olam Group aims to address the many challenges involved in meeting the needs of a growing global population, while achieving positive impact for farming communities, our planet and all our stakeholders. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, Olam Group currently ranks among the top 30 largest primary listed companies in terms of market capitalization on SGX-ST. Since June 2020, Olam Group has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series, a global sustainable investment index series developed by FTSE Russell, following a rigorous assessment of Olam’s supply chain activities, impact on the environment and governance transparency. The FTSE4Good Index Series identifies companies that demonstrate strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices and is used by a variety of market participants to create and assess responsible investment funds. More information on Olam can be found at www.olamgroup.com. Olam is located at 7 Straits View, Marina One East Tower #20-01, Singapore 018936. Telephone: +65 63394100, Facsimile: +65 63399755. To subscribe to the Olam Newsroom please visit www.olamgroup.com and read the Privacy statement here. If you do not wish to receive information from Olam, please contact media@olamnet.com

Contacts for ofi corporate communications

Nick Viner

Head of Media, ofi

nick.viner@ofi.com

+44 7721 160645