Hazelnuts

We are a leading supplier of natural and semi-finished hazelnut products grown by farmers in Turkey.

Hazelnuts

We offer a range of hazelnut varieties and kernel sizes to develop new ingredients for confectionery, baking, ice creams and other applications. These include natural, roasted, blanched, diced, and paste ingredients, carefully produced to retain flavor, texture and aroma.

Our on-the-ground presence with farmers means we can help to improve productivity and quality, as well as labor conditions for workers. It also improves traceability. This is backed by stipulations in the Olam Supplier Code.

Improving social and labor conditions in the

hazelnuts supply chain

Since 2012, ofi has been taking actions to support farmers and seasonal workers, and to improve conditions in the hazelnut supply chain in Turkey. This is in line with our commitment to develop supply chains that respect people and human rights. And to make sure no children or adults are subject to illegal, forced or abusive labor practices. Over 70% of the world’s hazelnuts are grown in Turkey, where the challenges in the supply chain are complex and deeply entrenched. During the hazelnut harvest each summer, workers (the vast majority of whom are Turkish citizens) travel to take up seasonal work on hazelnut farms.

In partnership with the Fair Labor Association (FLA), ofi piloted the USDA’s Guidelines for Eliminating Child Labor and Forced Labor in Agricultural Supply Chains in collaboration with the Turkish government, Nestlé and Balsu. Completed in June 2018, the pilot assessed over 1,000 hazelnut farms and the report identified the systemic barriers and solutions to improving working and social conditions.

Interested in how we endeavour to improve social and labor conditions in the hazelnuts supply chain?

Read ofi news

Press Release Nov 20, 2024

From agronomy to AI: ofi accelerates sustainability impact across global nuts supply chains

Powering beehives with AI in California, and empowering cashew farmers across Africa and Asia are just two highlights published by global ingredients leader ofi, in its latest sustainability report for its nuts business.

The annual ‘Nut Trails’ impact report¹ details progress delivered by ofi’s origin teams of agronomists and social workers, together with partners across its global almond, cashew and hazelnut operations in 2023. Notable initiatives include the KIND Almond Acres Initiative, testing regenerative agriculture practices across 500 acres in California, and expanding the deployment of AI-powered BeeHome™ technology2 to protect pollinators.

Press Release Nov 20, 2024

AtSource receives equivalence under the SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment – FSA 3.0.

Two tiers of ofi’s sustainability management system AtSource – AtSourceV and AtSource+ – have been recognized as equivalent schemes against the Sustainability Farm Assessment FSA 3.0 from the SAI platform, obtaining the gold and silver equivalence levels respectively for its spices, cocoa, coffee, and nuts products. This achievement reiterates ofi’s commitment to sustainability and to customers in their journey towards meeting their commitments.

We are pleased to announce that AtSource+ and AtSourceV have been benchmarked as equivalent schemes against the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment scheme – FSA Version 3.0, obtaining the highest-level equivalence for the AtSource+ tier¹.

The SAI Platform's Farm Sustainability Assessment FSA 3.0 provides a widely recognized framework to assess, improve, and validate on-farm sustainability in agricultural supply chains.

Following the benchmarking results, the AtSource system has achieved:

FSA Gold level equivalent for the AtSource+ tier, being the highest-level recognition and confirming best-in-class sustainable practices for farms in AtSource+ supply chains, and their commitment to high environmental and social responsibility standards.
FSA Silver level equivalent for the AtSourceV tier, confirming farms are meeting a well-defined standard of responsible agricultural practices. This includes good environmental stewardship, respect for labor rights, and safe working conditions.

Articles Nov 14, 2024

Rishi Kalra, Executive Director and Group CFO at ofi quoted in Financial Times curtain raiser article ahead of COP 16

For Olam Food Ingredients, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of food and drink ingredients, the alarm rang with the bees.

As one of the world’s largest almond growers, OFI says it spends between $8mn and $11mn a year on honeybees needed to pollinate almond trees. Despite this, productivity on the farms started to decline “because the bees were stressed by their industrialised environment”, says Rishi Kalra, executive director and group chief financial officer. “So, we worked with partners to create natural habitats for bees on our farms and reduce their exposure to agrichemicals. What we saw was that productivity steadily increased.”

Want to talk?

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch today.

Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts

Improving social and labor conditions in the

hazelnuts supply chain

Read ofi news

Want to talk?

Get in touch

Subscribe to our newsletter