Africa 

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.”

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

^[i] The PLWF is a leading alliance of 24 major financial institutions that encourages, supports, and monitors investee companies working to deliver living wages and living incomes in global supply chains.

^[ii] ofi adopts the guidance of the Living Income Community of Practice (LICOP) which defines a living income as: "The net annual income required for a household in a particular place to afford a decent standard of living for all members of that household. Elements of a decent standard of living include food, water, housing, education, healthcare, transport, clothing, and other essential needs including provision for unexpected events".

^[iii] Return on household labour: a means to accelerate the path to a living income for smallholder coffee farming households’ Authors: Yuca Waarts, Wageningen University & Research; Yves-Pascal Suter, ofi; Piet van Asten, ofi

^[iv] ofi defines ‘enhanced livelihood support as: “A package of support combining one or more relevant trainings, and at least one material support including inputs, services, and access to finance and premiums, or infrastructure, designed to improve yields, quality, resilience, or return on investment, as part of a multi-year program.”

^[v] 2024 living income data for ofi’s cocoa and coffee platforms will be published in Q4 2025

TRACT, a pioneering SaaS platform dedicated to enhancing sustainability in agricultural supply chains, is taking on an innovative farmer income estimation tool developed by ofi (olam food ingredients) and Olam Agri to accelerate expansion into this essential aspect of supply chain resilience.

Developed with Netherlands-based Agri-Logic, on an initial idea created with Rainforest Alliance, the tool uses a minimal set of data points based on the Living Income Community of Practice and theAnker Methodology to estimate farmer income without the extensive data collection often assumed necessary. A scenario modeler shows how interventions like yield improvements, smarter fertilizer use, or price changes can help close living income gaps — offering users actionable insights into what initiatives best drive change.

ofi and Olam Agri have deep roots in sustainable sourcing with a track record of working to improve farmer livelihoods across their supply chains and have made sector-leading commitments to advancing farmer income. Their efforts to develop an efficient tool and their willingness to openly share this tool reflects a recognition that cross sector collaboration is a must to see progress at scale on this challenging topic.

“We’re thrilled to work with partners that are thinking innovatively about major sustainability challenges, and willing to share their experience for the benefit of the sector,” said Allison Kopf, CEO of TRACT. “This tool will serve as a springboard, helping us get to an industry-aligned and widely used approach faster.”

The goal is a streamlined approach that delivers faster, more cost-effective insights into farmer income, allowing companies to focus more energy on creating impact and less on duplicative data collection.

This work builds on TRACT’s ongoing work in facilitating pre-competitive alignment on sustainability metrics and methodologies, and embedding those aligned approaches into its platform that enables consistent, practical use across the industry. In this case, TRACT is working in close collaboration with IDH and using the tool from ofi and Olam Agri as a tangible starting point for alignment.

Yves-Pascal Suter, Head of Social Impact at ofi said “Understanding living income gaps is the crucial first step in tackling the complex challenge of helping more farmers have a decent standard of living. Together with Olam Agri, we saw a gap in the market for an effective measurement tool. When combined with our deep-rooted presence within farming communities, it has provided valuable insights into the most effective strategies for partnering to address these gaps and progress towards our goal of enabling 200,000 farmer households to achieve a living income by 2030 under our Choices for Change strategy. We hope that by making it accessible to the broader food and agri sector, it will be refined further and help create a shared approach to improving farmer incomes worldwide.”

“This tool has made it easier to understand farmer incomes in our supply chains, enabling us to lift the incomes of farmer households and reduce living income gaps”, added Julie Greene, Chief Sustainability Officer, Olam Agri. “We look forward to collaborating with others across the sector to strengthen the tool and expand its impact.”

TRACT is inviting companies, NGOs, researchers, and technical experts to take part in the review of the approach and to contribute to broader alignment efforts on farmer income, in collaboration with IDH which is a leading partner in this space. Together, TRACT and IDH aim to advance industry alignment on farmer income measurement across key commodities and ensure compatibility with related data initiatives.

To learn more, reach out to Kumiko Aoki kaoki@tract.eco

TRACT is a leading provider of traceability and sustainability data solutions for the global agricultural supply chain. Our mission is to remove the burden of data management and resolve the debate on methodology so that companies can drive meaningful impact as they navigate their supply chains. For more information about TRACT, visit https://www.tract.eco/

• Landmark strategic investment in Linhares combines local economic development with ofi’s sustainability strategy
• New facility complements ofi’s existing facilities in Vietnam and Spain, providing global customer base with high-quality freeze-dried and spray-dried instant coffee

ofi, a global leader in naturally good food and beverage ingredients, officially inaugurated its state-of-the-art soluble coffee facility in Linhares, Espírito Santo, Brazil on Friday, May 9^th. The strategic investment strengthens ofi's position as a top 3 independent producer in the growing global soluble coffee market, projected to reach $52.2 billion by 2031^[1], while creating significant economic impact in Brazil's premier coffee-growing region.

Located in the heart of Brazil's Conilon coffee region, the Linhares facility transforms coffee beans sourced from ofi’s coffee units across Brazil into premium soluble products. Serving a global network of customers, the Linhares site has two complete lines of freeze-dried and spray-dried instant coffee, thereby maximizing output and material efficiency.

"This inauguration represents a triple win – for local communities, for our customers, and for the environment," said Vivek Verma, ofi’s Managing Director & CEO, coffee. "By processing coffee at the source, we're strengthening our integrated supply chain and farmer partnerships to deliver traceable, sustainable soluble coffee products to our customers. A strengthened innovation infrastructure focusing on value-added coffee products will build growth opportunities in South and North America, while also serving consumption markets in Europe and Asia. I would like to thank the Espírito Santo state government for establishing an enabling business environment.”

Brazil is of strategic importance to ofi’s portfolio – with operations across coffee, cocoa and spices having been developed over the past 24 years. The Linhares site was selected due to the abundant Conilon coffee production in the Espírito Santo region which provides approximately 70% of Brazil's output^[2] - a potential growth driver for the global supply of robusta coffee beans. The site complements ofi’s existing soluble coffee processing facilities in Spain and Vietnam.

Sustainable by design, innovative by nature

Sustainability is built into every aspect of the Linhares operation, in line with ofi's "Choices for Change" strategy. It is powered by 100% renewable electricity and biomass boilers that convert coffee production waste into energy, helping to reduce the carbon footprint of ofi and its customers. The beans supplied to the facility are fully traceable and the soluble coffee produced from the facility is certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

The facility features cutting-edge technology for producing diverse soluble coffee products, with a state-of-the-art Freeze Dryer that uses energy-efficient methods. It also incorporates ofi's new soluble coffee innovation center, building on an integrated global network of 19 innovation centers – across ofi’s portfolio of cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts and spices.