Shekhar was appointed CEO of ofi in January 2020 upon its creation following the reorganization of the Olam Group. Shekhar joined Olam in 1992 and has been an Executive Director and a member of the Group Board since 1998. Shekhar held a variety of roles in the Olam Group, he was previously Group Chief Operating Officer, Executive Director – Finance and Business Development, and prior to this he incubated and managed various global businesses including the Nuts, Spices and Packaged Foods businesses, where he led many of the Company’s organic and inorganic growth initiatives.
Rishi was appointed CFO of ofi in January 2020 upon its creation following the reorganization of the Olam Group. Rishi began his career with Olam in 2000 and during this period has served as CFO India, CFO West Africa, and President and Global Head of Corporate Finance. He is a founding member of the first Circle of Practice in Asia of The Prince of Wales Charitable Project, Accounting for Sustainability (A4S). A4S inspires action by finance leaders to drive a fundamental shift towards resilient business models and a sustainable economy.
Ashok is a management graduate with almost 30 years’ experience. He has been with Olam since 1992 and is the Global Head of the nuts business which includes almonds, cashew, hazelnuts, peanuts, pistachios and walnuts. He is also Chairman of the Executive Human Resource and Compensation Committee.
Prakash joined Olam in 1998, taking responsibility for coffee operations in Uganda. He moved into the risk function in 2001 and relocated to Vietnam in 2007 to take on the role of Country Head, extending to a regional role in 2010.
Since 2016, he has been responsible for Olam’s Southeast Asia and China operations, which he continues to manage today. His key markets include China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Thailand.
Prakash is a Graduate of Commerce and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management. He was recently awarded the prestigious Young Alumni Achiever Award by his alma mater for Corporate Leadership.
Vivek joined Olam in 1992 to head operations in India. He is currently responsible for the Coffee and Commodity Financial Services businesses. Originally trained as an engineer, Vivek has over 30 years’ agri‑commodities experience.
Having joined Olam in 1998, Sandeep has expertise across all five ofi product platforms. He became CEO of ofi’s Dairy business in 2017, also taking on the role of Global Head of Sales in 2020. As CCO, Sandeep has responsibility for driving sales excellence and customer centricity with more focussed key account management processes. In leading the ofi F&B Solutions platform, Sandeep oversees global strategy execution for the platform enabling it to become a growth driver for the business. He also continues to oversee the Dairy business globally.
Sandeep is a Graduate of Commerce and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
Teji joined Olam in 1997 and went on to manage ofi’s cocoa business in Togo, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Singapore. He moved to London in 2009 to manage the company’s global cocoa beans and products business, returning to Singapore in 2019.
He was integral in the integration process following the acquisition of ADM Cocoa in 2015. He is an expert in cocoa trading and origination, and previously served on the Board of Cocoa Association of Asia.
Ian joined ofi in January 2022, taking responsibility for the global legal, compliance and company secretarial teams.
Ian has over 30 years of experience working in both private practice and global FTSE listed companies across a diverse range of sectors including food, media and distribution. He has significant commercial, M&A and management experience with previous roles including executive management responsibility for HR, information security, indirect procurement and risk at a global level.
Kamesh joined Olam in 2010 and held various senior manufacturing, innovation and quality roles. In 2020 he became Chief Innovation & Quality Officer at ofi, overseeing a global network of Innovation centers and driving quality and food safety across 100+ food ingredient manufacturing plants.
Kamesh holds a Master’s degree in Food Science from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York.
Dan joined ofi in January of 2022, bringing with him 35 years of FMCG food industry experience. His industry experience includes many iconically branded food companies, several private label manufacturing entities as well as multiple private equity portfolio companies. Specializing in end to end operations and supply chain disciplines, Dan’s focus is delivering the ‘one-ofi’ business for all stakeholders across a balanced scorecard of performance. As the global, functional lead for operations, Dan is responsible for aligning and realizing successful, holistic results for ofi across more that 115+ facilities around the globe.
Sathyamurthy (Satya) joined Olam in 1996 to manage Sesame and Cashew operations in Nigeria, before moving on to lead Cocoa and Cashew operations. He moved to Cameroon as Country Head in 2001 before taking the role of Country Head – Nigeria & Benin in 2004. He then established the business across South America in 2007. In 2020 he began his current role at ofi as Regional Head for Latam and head of Cocoa Americas
Satya has over 30 years of international industry experience. He is an agricultural Engineering Graduate from CAE, TNAU (India) and holds an MBA from IRMA.
Yusuke joined Olam in 2016 and has worked across a wide range of initiatives, including corporate strategy, re-organization & re-structuring, operational excellence and customer excellence.
He has been in the food & beverage industry for over 15 years and has held various positions within the sector from supply chain & procurement, international sales & marketing, to business development and M&A.
Yusuke holds an MBA from New York University Stern School of Business.
Usha joined ofi in September 2022, taking responsibility for driving the company’s one-ofi strategy and amplifying its unique entrepreneurial culture leading global diversity, inclusion and equity, organization effectiveness and global talent management.
With over 25 years of professional experience across a diverse set of industries and iconic brands, she has expertise across finance, sales, marketing, project management and strategy. Usha has worked across all areas of HR – leading HR strategy, talent management, organization transformation, leadership development and succession.
Steve joined ofi in September 2022, taking responsibility for expanding ofi’s leadership position on sustainability by digitizing traceability, supply chain delivery, and social impact transparency.
Steve has over 30 years of experience, which includes working at blue chip global listed companies across a diverse range of sectors including distribution, consumer goods and food ingredients. He holds significant experience in Information Technology (IT) management and leading large-scale digital transformational initiatives.
Roel joined Olam in 2013 as the global commercial lead for its spices business. He then moved internally to lead the award-winning sustainability insights management system AtSource. Most recently, Roel was seconded as a co-founder of the wider industry led sustainability measurement digital platform TRACT. In 2024 he became Chief Sustainability Officer at ofi, with responsibility for scaling ofi’s ability to drive positive impact across its five leading product platforms.
With over 25 years of industry experience, spanning senior leadership roles across the food and agriculture sector, he has extensive expertise across both food ingredients and sustainability, along with having held several board positions – including as Vice Chair of The Sustainable Spices Initiative.
Roel holds an MSc from Wageningen University in environmental sciences.
Read ofi news
Author | Andrew Brooks | Head of Sustainability, Cocoa, ofi
World Chocolate Day, a day to not only indulge, but to remember the people and landscapes that grow the cocoa that goes into our favorite products. Both are vital to help maintain a sustainable future for cocoa production. That’s why as part of our Cocoa Compass sustainability ambition, we collaborate with our customers and partners on multi-stakeholder partnerships to drive collective action and lasting impact.
Climate change is among the biggest challenges in growing cocoa. In Indonesia, for example, intensive rainfall, drought, rising temperatures, and an increase in related pests, threatens farmer yields and erodes their livelihoods, including those of women and indigenous groups that depend on their crops for subsistence. Yet many farmers struggle to access the support they need to adapt and become more resilient.
A climate-smart agroforestry system is key to addressing and mitigating climate change risks, which is why we co-created the Landscape Approach to Sustainable and Climate Change Resilient Cocoa and Coffee (LASCARCOCO), a three-year partnership with USAID, non-profit Rikolto, the Hershey Company, and the Indonesian Government, to help 6,500 farmers increase yields by 25% and conserve 14,000 hectares by late 2025.
Through the partnership, we have developed a new curriculum to train farmers in Good Agricultural Practices and climate adaption, promoted sustainable agroforestry – where forest and shade trees are planted alongside cocoa and coffee to restore forest covers – and provided farmers with seedlings. It’s already making a difference – in year one of the project, approximately 8,600 individuals were reached directly or indirectly via the program. The LASCARCOCO USAID ofi project has successfully bridged a constructed collaborative action with stakeholders involved in the project such as farmers, forest communities, government, and forest authorities to deliver an agroforestry program.
Good landscape governance is also critical to protect the land and the incomes of the farmers who work it. In Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, we’re working with the Rainforest Alliance and USAID on the Resilient Ecosystems and Sustainable Transformation of Rural Economies (RESTORE) project. This not only promotes regenerative and sustainable cocoa production; it also aims to strengthen Landscape Management Boards (LMBs).
These boards are important because they bring key stakeholders together – community members, local farmers, the Ghanaian Forestry Commission, and COCOBOD – and give the local community a say in how the land is managed. We provide ongoing support and training to LMB members on everything from management and financial literacy to climate-smart farming and forest-friendly enterprises such as beekeeping and piggery.
Whilst we’re proud of the impact we have made so far, there is still much more to do. We remain focused on working with customers, civil society, national governments, and other stakeholders to support farmers and to protect landscapes across origins – so when consumers pick up their chocolate bar or cocoa-flavored treat, they can be confident that it’s been produced in a way that supports people and helps protect the planet.
Author | Billie Elmqvist Thurén | Human Rights ofi Sustainability & Cocoa Lead
Accessible education is an effective way to reduce the risk of the incidence of child labor as well as providing a foundation for protecting children’s rights. Through our Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS), we monitor and identify the specific needs of communities across our nine global sustainable sourcing regions.
From providing access to schools closer to home to initiatives that empower cocoa households to be more economically resilient, here are a few ways we are removing barriers for children in our cocoa supply chain to attend school and develop their future potential.
- New 2030 social and environmental targets set for ofi’s global operations which span ~50 countries, building on the existing product-specific strategies for cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts, and spices.
- Strong focus on supply chain excellence to enhance supplier engagement, mitigate supply chain risks, and give customers more rigorous, verifiable data for sustainability decision-making and reporting.
- Impact will be achieved in partnership with farmers, governments, civil society and ofi’s customers, backed by clear action plans and methodologies outlined by ofi.
ofi, a leading supplier of naturally good food and beverage ingredients, today unveiled a new sustainability strategy – ‘Choices for Change’ and ambitious 2030 targets.
Global food brands and retailers are facing growing consumer demand for sustainable products, with increasing weather related and other challenges in the food supply chain and significant new sustainability linked legislation coming up. With ‘Choices for Change’, ofi will provide these companies and their consumers with specific choices to deliver long-term impact across four critical pillars: Prosperous Farmers, Thriving Communities, Climate Action, and Regenerating the Living World.
Every 2030 target in the Choices for Change strategy delivers on key customer needs, including:
- Delivering enhanced livelihood support to one million farmers, helping them to be more productive and deliver better quality ingredients.
- Cutting scope 3 emissions by 30% to offer customers verifiable, low-carbon products and ingredients and contribute to net-zero commitments.
- Bringing 2 million hectares of land under regenerative farming practices to create long-term farm resilience and products with verified positive natural impact.
To give customers more rigorous, verifiable data for sustainability decision-making and reporting, the strategy incorporates a focus on supply chain excellence. This brings traceability, data insights, risk mitigation, verification, and in-depth supplier engagement together to enable the right choices and includes ofi’s suite of award-winning tech tools like AtSource - the sustainability management system and its built in Carbon Scenario Planner for planning and costing climate action.
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