Olam Buys East African Gourmet Coffee Specialist

25 Oct 2016 --- Olam International is strengthening its position in coffee trading with the acquisition of East African independent specialists Schluter at an enterprise value of US$7.5 million.

Founded in 1858, Schluter S.A. specializes in premium Arabica coffees with a particular focus on the gourmet sector. It has been present in Africa since the very early days of coffee production and has a trading office close to Geneva, Switzerland, as well as offices in Nyon, Switzerland and Liverpool, UK.

It operates milling facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi and runs farmer support programs funded by European development agencies, involving six nurseries and 1,8000 farmers who are certified suppliers of organic coffee.

Its focus is almost entirely on high quality Arabica coffees from the continent, including, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, D.R. Congo, Madagascar and Cameroon. 

“Schluter’s name has been synonymous with fine coffees out of East Africa for generations. Their team in Europe will complement Olam’s marketing efforts and further strengthen our reach and relationships with our roaster clients. Schluter is clearly a strong fit into our strategy for three key reasons – Our entry into the European specialty coffee market will complement our expanding speciality coffee presence in the US; Schluter will also deepen our origination expertise in East Africa; and their focus on building sustainable supply chains with smallholders is strongly aligned to our core purpose of Growing Responsibly and our pursuit of the Olam Livelihood Charter,” says Vivek Verma, Managing Director and CEO of Olam Coffee.

The acquisition is funded by a combination of internal accruals and existing debt facilities. With the acquisition, Schluter will become the specialty arm of Olam Coffee in Europe.

“We are a company who has been passionate in the promotion of African coffees and the livelihood of the farmers who produce it. We have been at the forefront of the specialty coffee movement in Europe. I am pleased that we have found a market leader like Olam that shares the same goals and aspirations as us in growing the speciality coffee market.  As a combined business, I am confident we will be able to serve our customers and partners in many ways better than before,” says Schluter’s Managing Director Philip Schluter.