When COVID-19 reached Brazil ahead of the coffee harvest season, the first thoughts of smallholder Ivone Corsi da Silva were of how she could keep supporting her family, including her pregnant daughter and several other children with pre-existing health problems, without putting them at risk.

Ivone is one of over 5,000 beneficiaries of hygiene items and health education materials provided as part of a COVID-19 intervention campaign in the coffee growing regions of Brazil by Olam Coffee, Folgers (part of The J.M. Smucker Company) and Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee.

Commenting on the support she received: “The kits came at the right time for us. I have already distributed the masks and sanitisers to everyone in my family and we are all using them.”

300 relief kits – containing a total of 8,850 masks, 1,385 hand sanitisers and 194 litres of environmental disinfectants – were distributed to farmer households across six Arabica and Conilon producing regions throughout the harvest season in June and July. Information and materials on COVID-19 symptoms and prevention were also disseminated through Olam’s farmer network via WhatsApp, to support community sensitisation efforts.  

Another producer to receive a kit, João Carlos Ferreira, from the Chapada Diamantina region added: “The kits will help protect our employees and ourselves against the virus, so we can move the harvest forward.”

Brazil is the world’s largest supplier of green coffee and is expected to produce 70 million bags of coffee for the crop year 2020-21, many from the hands of smallholders.

Beyond Brazil, Olam Coffee continues to work with its partners across Latin America, Asia and Africa, committing significant resources, both in-kind and financial across its sourcing origins to support the global fight against COVID-19.

“COVID-19 poses severe additional risks for smallholders and their families; they are specifically vulnerable in this situation not least from having been harmed by the low prices in recent years. We are extremely grateful for the generous donations from Folgers and Mother Parkers which are strengthening our efforts to protect coffee communities and ensure farmers can continue harvesting and earning.”

Vivek Verma

Managing Director and CEO, Olam Coffee

    Ivone Corsi da Silva and Producer João Carlos Ferreira with a COVID-19 hygiene kit (From left to right)

About Olam International Limited

Olam International is a leading food and agri-business supplying food, ingredients, feed and fibre to 25,200 customers worldwide. Our value chain spans over 60 countries and includes farming, processing and distribution operations, as well as a sourcing network of an estimated 5 million farmers.

Through our purpose to ‘Re-imagine Global Agriculture and Food Systems’, Olam 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 currently ranks among the top 30 largest primary listed companies in terms of market capitalisation on SGX-ST.

More information on Olam can be found at www.olamgroup.com.

Issued on behalf of Olam International Limited

ARCADIA Communications Lab (www.arcadialab.net)

Lynn Schwartz-RubinPublic Relations Strategistlynn@arcadialab.net

+1 917 923 2651