Ecuador

Ecuador is renowned for its fine-flavour cocoa and is one of the top five producers globally.

 

In 2010 ofi opened an office in Guayaquil and within four years, had become the largest exporter in the country with buying operations, including the major Nacional  (fine-flavour) growing regions.  

 

Our dedicated team of agronomists work tirelessly with farmers to help increase their productivity and incomes, whilst protecting the environment and the country’s abundant biodiversity. This gives us first-hand information on local markets, enabling us to share insights with our customers. 

 

Meet the team

Our dedicated team of over 150 employees support over 10,000 cocoa farmers in sustainability programmes across two key locations of Santo Domingo and Duran.

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Read ofi news

Press Release Mar 7, 2024
ofi’s net-zero ambition recognized at UK’s largest sustainable business awards

A new carbon monitoring tool developed by leading food ingredients supplier ofi and Google geo-spatial partner NGIS, has been recognized in the “Net-Zero Innovation of the Year” category at this year’s Edie awards, which celebrate sustainability leadership.

 

The tool is designed to measure carbon gains and losses across supply chains. It uses satellite imagery and machine learning to track changes in forest cover and carbon stocks at a granular level - down to the individual farm1. This data is helping ofi to identify areas at risk of deforestation and prioritize conservation efforts on cashew, cocoa and coffee suppliers’ farms and in sourcing landscapes.

 

Climate Action Manager at ofi, Dr Pedro Lafargue said: “We are delighted to be recognized for our innovative solution that is helping us monitor and measure GHG emissions and progress towards net-zero goals. Part of this is about driving transformational change in strategic landscapes which means keeping growing and retaining more trees on and around farms.

 

“Planting more trees is one of the ways to move towards net-zero, but carbon sequestration potential is highly dependent on tree species and farm typology. The tool allows us to assess the optimum level of planting for different farmers and farms so we can create more efficient agroforestry programs that maximize both yields and carbon storage.”

 

ofi’s customers, who are some of the world’s largest food retailers and manufacturers, can access results of the data-driven sequestration efforts in their joint supply chains via performance metrics on ofi’s sustainability management system AtSource. These insights can help them monitor and reduce their climate risk and meet science-based targets, as well as prepare for compliance with new EU rules and disclosures in relation to nature and climate risks.

 

The move by ofi to take carbon stock monitoring from a manual, desktop-based process to an integrated pipeline which leverages cloud computing, is allowing ofi to progressively scale this analysis across multiple commodities and regions – covering over 950,000 farms so far.

 

But Lafargue says that there’s a role for industry partners to play to scale up the innovation and progress towards net-zero at scale: “While the tool can help our customers quantify the ecosystem services provided to supply their ingredients and invest efficiently in better farming systems, we need them to recognize the efforts made by farmers to plant trees and maintain agroforestry systems with financial incentives, like annual premiums, to scale up these efforts over the long-term.”

 

Looking ahead, there is potential to take the tool beyond ofi supply chains to quantify carbon stocks and removals across entire production landscapes to provide better data for the industry on land use change and carbon removals. 

 

ofi was also a finalist in the Circular Economy of the Year award for using residual cocoa shells to fuel its cocoa factories2, where it produces its premium cocoa ingredients deZaan. The circular biomass boilers will reduce natural gas usage and CO2 emissions at ofi’s Koog aan deZaan facility in the Netherlands by 50% and in Mannheim, Germany, where it is believed to be the first cocoa shell boiler of its kind in the country, it will save approximately 8,000 tons of CO2 annually.

 

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

 

Notes to Editors

 

1 The Carbon Sequestration Monitoring Tool combines data from ofi polygon-mapped farms and satellite data with machine learning techniques to build models in Google Earth Engine that calculate the total aboveground biomass (AGB) - vegetation above the soil, such as stumps, trees, and foliage and how much carbon is present in each plot.

 

2 https://www.ofi.com/news-and-events/press-release/olam-food-ingredients-turns-cocoa-shells-into-power-to-fuel-factory.html

Events Mar 6, 2024
Join ofi at Expo West 2024, March 14-16

Come connect with ofi at our booth at Natural Products Expo West 2024, the leading trade show in the natural, organic, and healthy products industry.  Stop by to discover our portfolio of nutritious and delicious ingredients and learn more about how we drive sustainability impact through collaboration and work directly with customers to create new recipes and better products.

 

This year our theme is Flavor Fusion where you can see if you are sweet or spicy as you explore our ingredients through creating your own trail mix. We’ll be featuring a variety of ofi ingredients from our spices, nuts, and cocoa portfolios along with highlighting some of our capabilities.

 

Visit us from March 14-16, at Booth #3887, Hall D at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.

Articles Feb 14, 2024
The sweet treats and trends winning hearts this Valentine’s Day

Author | Madeline Bills | Cocoa Innovation Manager at ofi

 

Chocolate has long been synonymous with Valentine’s Day, with sweet treats a classic way to celebrate the season of love.

But Valentine’s Day is evolving, with Gen Z and Millennials redefining traditions.  Many consumers are choosing to celebrate this day with friends and family members, as well as significant others. In 2023, 40% of Gen Z and 20% of Millennials said they were planning to buy their friends a Valentine’s gift.[1] And what better way to do so than with cocoa?

 

As consumers change the way they celebrate Valentine’s Day – and who they celebrate with – there is an opportunity for manufacturers to develop new products.  From introducing more exotic flavors in confectionery to creating more experiential formats and expanding into new categories, we’re seeing companies inventing new ways for consumers to celebrate the season of love with those who matter most to them. At ofi we explore the top chocolate, confectionery and bakery trends shaping Valentine’s Day 2024 and how manufacturers can develop new offerings to win the hearts of consumers.

 

[1] Actually, Lots of Gen Z Would Rather Spend Valentine’s Day with Their Friends - YPulse

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