ISM & ProSweets 2025: ofi tackles cocoa woes with deforestation mapping and regenerative farming
12 Feb 2025 | ofi
Naveen Pessani, from ofi’s product development and innovation team, highlights the company’s cocoa powder, butter, and liquor on the show floor. With climate change and inflation disrupting cocoa supply and driving up prices globally, Pessani says ofi targets carbon emissions at each stage and implements programs to improve farmers’ lives, including enhanced financial inclusion and reduced child labor.
This is Anvisha from Food Ingredients First.
I'm here with Naveen Pasani, who's from Product Development and innovation at OFI.
Thanks for speaking with us today, Naveen.
What can you tell us about what you're presenting today on the show floor?
Yeah, we are here to present our cocoa ingredients, so this would be coco cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and cocoa liquor.
And we are here to help our customers in telling them how these products can be valuable to them.
So be it product development concepts, be it reducing the amount of cocoa in their recipes, various ways to to help them with their product development and innovation works.
What are the biggest shifts in consumer demand for cocoa and chocolate products, and how is OFI's ingredient brand Dazan responding to these trends?
There is not really any decline in the consumption of cocoa, so everybody still wants to eat cocoa, and to our own good we have plenty of supply.
And when you look at our ingredients, there is, if you look at cocoa powder, there is a whole lot of variety in us.
So if you want to look at increasing the texture of your products, if you want to look at changing the color or bringing the premiumness, we have all sorts of powders that can help you with that.
And also we have some special origin cocoa powders and cocoa beans that will help you give this premium experience for the consumers.
Interesting.
Cocoa supply chains face ongoing climate and sustainability challenges.
How is ensuring resilience and ethical sourcing?
Climate change is definitely happening.
It's not a hoax, so it is affecting the manufacturers, farmers, and consumers alike.
On this front, had a strategic.
Strategy last year that was announced where we wanted to make it real with farmers and the manufacturers at every stage.
So as a part of this change, we will be able to track all the amount of carbon emissions that are happening at each stage.
We also have a program called Outsource where all the manufacturers would be able to get this kind of data.
We also look at improving the quality of life for the farmers.
This is part of our compass program, eco-campus, where, for example, the farming community would have access to loans and they would be increasing their monthly income.
So all these sorts of things actually help in building a really strong sustainability program.
Amazing.
Now consumers want to know where their cocoa comes from.
What steps is the company taking to enhance traceability in its supply chain.
So we have, like I said earlier, at source program where we can track at each step where the carbon, where the product is coming from.
The manufacturers would be able to know who is behind the farm and where these farms are.
So we have dedicated resources where.
Where this particular products, for example, cocoa, is coming from, we would have the satellite maps of where these products are coming from.
Thanks for sharing.
How do Razan's high fat cocoa powders enhance sensory experiences and chocolate and bakery applications?
When we talk about high fat, we're talking about the premium experience.
This is because of the mouthfeel.
So with high fat, you have this very smooth mouthfeel and a richer texture in the mouth.
So when it comes to, let's say cereals, extruded cereals, or other bakery applications in chocolate, having high fat powder will give you a very round feel and hence the premium experience.
Sustainability goes beyond certifications, and you spoke a bit about this earlier, but how is OI integrating regenerative farming practices to futureproof cocoa farming?
So regenerative farming is quite big for us.
Recently we announced a target which is converting 1 million hectares of farm into regenerative farming.
As a part of this, we are educating our farmers to actively go to mulching and also use co crops like let's say bananas in between their current farm.
Let's say cocoa.
You grow bananas also together.
So this will help us to get additional income and at the same time you get this regenerative farming.
Interesting.
There's also rising demand for premium chocolate experiences.
How does Dazaan's portfolio support brands looking to elevate indulgence?
For example, Daza has probably the biggest portfolio of cocoa powders.
So if you look at cocoa powders, we have almost 100 varieties across the world.
So if a consumer is looking for elevated.
The texture, flavor, or the color of their products, we can definitely help them.
We also have organic lines of cocoa products and also special origins for cocoa.
For example, we have origins such as Ecuador, which is considered really fine flavor.
So if you want to elevate your premium, premiumness with Olam's ingredients for cocoa, for example, that's definitely.
With the portfolio that we have.
Great.
What's next for and DSA in 2025?
Are there any innovations or partnerships we should be watching?
We are in the process of developing a lot of interesting concepts with our partners.
This is a work in progress and you will hear from us a little later this year.
Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us.
