Olam Inaugrates US$75 Million Côte d’Ivoire Cocoa Processing Facility

09 Mar 2015 --- Olam International, a leading agri-business operating across the value chain in 65 countries, today welcomed His Excellency President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire to inaugurate the Olam Cocoa Processing (OCP) facility in San Pedro.

With an overall investment of US$75 million and commissioned in July 2014, the plant and the processing operations are amongst the most advanced cocoa facilities in Africa, focusing on both quality and the environment. The plant has a grind capacity of 75,000 metric tonnes per year and produces whole bean and nib roasted liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa cake. The cocoa beans are sourced through Olam’s extensive farmer networks throughout the country providing a completely sustainable and traceable supply chain.

The complex has created employment for 450 people locally, which includes skilled roles such as engineers, R&D technicians, finance and administration managers, on-site nurses, as well as HR and IT professionals. It is the second major industrial processing investment in the country for Olam which overall has created employment for 6,000 people in Côte d’Ivoire.

Speaking at the inauguration, Olam Co-Founder, Group Managing Director and CEO Sunny Verghese said: “We are honoured to have the presence of His Excellency President Ouattara to officially inaugurate OCP, our state-of-the-art cocoa processing facility, in San Pedro. This is a special occasion as we celebrate 20 years of Olam’s presence in Côte d’Ivoire, while also celebrating the company’s Silver Jubilee. Olam has remained committed to Côte d’Ivoire over the years, significantly growing our investments in the cocoa, cashew, coffee, cotton, palm and rubber sectors. We continue to believe in the future prospects for the country and will invest and grow our business profitably and responsibly. This occasion of OCP’s inauguration is symbolic of everything that Olam and Côte d’Ivoire have achieved together over the years. We are firmly committed to the country and share its ambition to become an emerging economy by 2020.”

Gerard Manley, Managing Director and Global Head of Olam Cocoa, added: “The inauguration today of one of the world’s most advanced cocoa plants is testament to the importance the cocoa industry attaches to Côte d’Ivoire, the largest producer of cocoa globally. The OCP complex enables us to provide our international customers with sustainable beans and products. We are proud that Olam Cocoa’s most ambitious greenfield project is now a reality and I would like to thank the Government and, most especially our suppliers – the farmers and their communities with whom we share the value of the cocoa bean.”

More than 1,500 metric tonnes of steel, 7,000 m3 of concrete and 2,000 metric tonnes of cement were needed to convert the 6.5 hectares of land along the San Pedro river into the most modern cocoa processing plant in West Africa while meeting all environmental requirements
•Safety first – in the construction and commissioning of the complex there were no lost time incidents in over 1,400,000 hours
•Chemical and microbiology laboratories with latest technology ensure food safety and quality
•175 containers of machinery and equipment were installed on the complex
•Steam generated by a boiler fed with waste biomass (cocoa shells)
•72 solar panels provide electricity for the OCP offices

As one of the leaders in cocoa sustainability, in 2010 Olam pioneered the Olam Livelihood Charter (OLC) which has eight Principles aimed at improving productivity, quality, living conditions, equality and wellbeing, as well as the environment. Of the 104,000 cocoa farmers in the OLC globally, more than 50,000 are in Côte d’Ivoire, producing 80,000 metric tonnes of cocoa.

As part of these programmes, Olam’s cocoa team in Côte d’Ivoire has:
•Trained 50,000 farmers in Good Agricultural Practices to improve productivity and livelihoods
•Constructed over 300 solar dryers to help improve quality
•Provided community development assistance of over US$750,000 to 35 districts impacting over 50,000 farmer families.

This season, in partnership with the Conseil Café Cacao, Olam has distributed over 1 million hybrid seeds to promote regeneration and is enabling the 50,000 farmers to map their farms and record their Social Economic and Environmental data under the Olam Farmer Information System (OFIS). This helps Olam to ensure full chain of custody from farm gate through to factory gate as well as enables smallholders to create individual farm development plans that mitigate environmental impacts.

Olam’s programmes also include working with certification bodies Rainforest Alliance, UTZ and Fairtrade and, today, 50% of cocoa sourced from Côte d’Ivoire is certified as sustainable or has been independently verified.