ofi partners with GEA to expand instant coffee production in Brazil

27 Jun 2022 --- GEA has started installing a production facility to produce two complete lines of freeze-dried and spray-dried instant coffee for olam food ingredients (ofi), with production scheduled to start in 2023. The facility will be one of the company’s largest and boost the soluble coffee business. 

The new plant is being built in Espírito Santo, Brazil, a conilon bean-producing region. Conilon coffee beans are similar to robusta, which is bitter and mainly used in espresso and instant coffee production.

“Our relationship with GEA started with the construction of our first soluble coffee plant in Vietnam. Over the years, GEA has upgraded their technology in extraction, evaporation and freeze-drying, which has helped us increase output and material efficiency, a key value driver in soluble coffee manufacturing,” says Shankar Rao, senior vice president head of operations, ofi.

Efficient extraction system deployedGEA is supplying its Carine extraction system, which produces high yields of coffee.
Instant coffee consumption is expected to increase in South America and the new facility will enable ofi to expand its capacity to meet the demands of the growing market. 

GEA’s Center of Competence in Denmark will supply its Carine extraction system designed to produce high yields of coffee. The order also includes GEA’s mechanical vapor recompression evaporation technology, the Conrad freeze-drying equipment and a refrigeration plant. 

The price of coffee beans doubled over the last year partly due to record freight costs and extreme weather events in Brazil, ofi highlighted. The supplier released its outlook detailing the progress of its on-the-ground operations to boost the resilience and equity of its coffee farming operations.

In 2021, the Gorilla Coffee Alliance, established by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with Nespresso and ofi, mentored 8,500 farmers in South Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to maximize coffee production and sales by 2026.

Edited by Inga de Jong