Unlocking value for customers of Quinoa and Chia seeds while enabling farming communities to prosper sustainably
Produced by Jassen Pintado
Interviewee
Biswajeet Singh, General Manager for Olam Agri in Peru
Art Direction
Jassen Pintado
Olam Agri is bringing transparency, traceability, and sustainability into Peruvian quinoa and chia supply chains, offering high quality and safe products to customers and differentiating their business by working directly with smallholder farmers to drive positive impact in communities and ecosystems.
When concepts such as traceability and sustainability pop into most companies’ output, it somehow brings the sense of being in step with the times. If such is the case, Olam Agri has set the tone well ahead of most businesses by venturing into the food industry more than 30 years ago. Its dedication, focus, and understanding of high-growth markets along with its processing capabilities have turned the company into a leading agribusiness with a global footprint spread across more than 30 countries, managing multi-products supply chains, and guaranteeing food quality from farm to shelf.
“Our business is driven by our ambitious purpose to transform food, feed & fiber for a more sustainable and food-secure future”, says Biswajeet Singh, General Manager for Olam Agri in Peru.
OLAM AGRI IN PERU
The Olam group has been in Peru for more than 15 years, with Olam Agri appointing efforts into specialty grains such as quinoa and chia since 2017. Considering Peru’s geography and unbeatable microclimate diversity, which favors a great variety of superfoods to grow naturally and in abundance, it has become a very important origin for the company, representing limitless opportunities.
The Specialty Grains & Seeds platform of Olam Agri in Peru has become a leading supplier of processed quinoa grains and chia seeds for distributors, manufacturers, supermarkets, and brands globally.
The company’s processing plant in Lima is “AA” certified under BRC (British Retail Consortium) standards, boasting one of the best processing facilities with capability for both bulk and retail packaging.
Our business is driven by our purpose to transform food, feed & fiber for a more sustainable and food-secure future
- Biswajeet Singh, General Manager for Olam Agri in Peru
Olam Agri operates in Peru to the highest quality and food safety standards, ensuring the needs of end consumers. Besides BRC, other certifications for Olam Agri’s products and operations include HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), GMP (Good Manufacturing
Practice), Gluten-free, Kosher, Halal, and SMETA 4-Pillar (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit).
Follow this link to take a walkthrough quinoa processing at Olam Agri’s facility.
“We are the largest organic quinoa and chia supply chain partner in Peru, working directly with 2,700 smallholder farmers across all the quinoa and chia growing regions in the country”, the executive remarked.
SUPPLYING GLOBAL MARKETS WITH ORGANIC SUPERFOODS IN HIGH DEMAND
Products -and ingredients- such as quinoa and chia share attributes such as being plant-based with high nutritional value, high protein content, antioxidants, gluten-free, anti-inflammatory properties, and a high count of amino and omega acids, among other qualities which earn them a place into today’s current trends.
And as the market for plant-based protein and innovative alternatives grows, Olam Agri offers quinoa, chia, amaranth, and other ancient grains that are beyond the conventional protein offerings from peas, soy, and wheat.
“Our priority is to ensure that consumers receive safe and highquality products by managing the complete end-to-end supply chain for all varieties of quinoa and chia seeds”, Singh mentioned.
CHALLENGES TURNING INTO OPPORTUNITIES
About 75% to 80% of the quinoa production in the world is harvested between Bolivia and Peru. Just in Peru, around 100,000 tons of quinoa are produced annually, from which slightly more than half is exported, while the rest being consumed domestically.
Still, the industry offers large improvement opportunities, as intermediaries in the supply chain
“We are the largest organic quinoa
and chia supply chain partner in Peru, working directly with 2,700 smallholder farmers across all the quinoa and chia growing regions in the country”
-
Biswajeet Singh, General Manager for Olam
Agri in Peru
led to a highly fragmented market representing a challenge to the companies wanting to bring more transparency, direct reachability, and correct value distribution within the supply chain and local farmers.
A company such as Olam Agri is able to establish a business model based on sustainability and digitalization by working directly and closely with farmers and bringing innovation and technology to improve food safety and quality conditions.
“The quinoa and chia industry has the potential of becoming one of the star products when it comes to the ‘good for the planet and good for people’ category”, said the executive.
IMPROVING FARMERS’ LIVELIHOODS THROUGH AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT
With a year-round presence on
the ground, Olam Agri ’s team of agronomists work hand in hand with farmers by training them on good agricultural practices according to international organic and trade requirements. Moreover, by providing them with personalized technical assistance through all stages of crop growth, farmers are able to adopt organic and regenerative practices while improving their yields and product quality.
Follow this link to watch Olam Agri’s work with its supply chain in Puno.
“We encourage the use of ancestral practices that have worked well for the fragile Andean lands, increasing farmers’ resilience to adverse climatic conditions”, Singh remarked.
DIGITAL RESOURCES
TO PROVIDE SOLUTIONS AT EVERY LEVEL
Transparency and traceability are
powerful drivers for achieving sustainability in food value chains. This premise has led Olam Agri to invest significant efforts towards adopting digital technology to assure that their products have been grown, harvested, and processed responsibly.
One of the results of these efforts is the development of “OFIS” (Olam Farmer Information System) which
allows the company to collect data at the farmgate level through a userfriendly mobile application. This data is then analyzed on a web portal to identify individual farmers’ needs and provide them tailored resources to increase the impact of their sustainability efforts.
Another example is Olam Direct, a digital platform created
to disintermediate supply chains and expand Olam Agri’s reach. By connecting with farmers and empowering them to transact directly with the company, a more transparent sourcing process is ensured along with more value to such farmers for their crop.
AtSource is Olam’s revolutionary sustainability insights platform
for agricultural supply chains, purposefully created to demonstrate social and environmental impact and drive change for farmers, communities and ecosystems. With more than 100 metrics collected through OFIS, the company can identify improvement opportunities and create action plans in partnership with clients to realize change.
Follow this link to learn more about AtSource.
“AtSource provides the company and its clients with the ability to track the environmental and social impact of a product at each stage of its journey – from the farm through logistics and processing, and up to the customer’s factory door”, the executive explained.
THE ROLE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS PLAY
Throughout all years of operation in Peru, Olam Agri has not only partnered with local farmers but has also developed solid relationships and alliances with different actors in the supply chain, such as local governments, international agencies,
NGOs, and clients.
Recently, the company has engaged with USAID (United States Agency for International Development) in a cooperative agreement for a five-year project aimed at increasing yields, improving product quality, and achieving organic certification for 1,500 smallholder quinoa farmers in Peru. The project’s legacy will also include deploying a structured technical assistance system by building local extension services and creating manuals for organic production in Quechua, the Andean native language, which are currently non-existent.
“By aligning and collaborating with
We believe our business in Peru is set to address current trends through an end-to-end model that is transparent, sustainable, and traceable
- Biswajeet Singh, General Manager for Olam Agri in Peru
“We believe that the consciousness of the above will benefit the overall Agri and food sector in the long run.” the executive pointed out.
AFTERMATH OF THE PANDEMIC
Operations were obviously impacted experiencing challenges in supply chain, logistics, people, and other aspects, but most importantly this situation brought out some positive aspects as consumers became more aware of a healthy diet via plant-based food, genuine value for supply chains and climate change challenges, which are currently being widely discussed and addressed.
IMPROVING HEALTH & NUTRITION IN FARMING COMMUNITIES
Besides ongoing efforts on the field, working alongside farmers and their crops, Olam Agri also ventures into different social programs that positively benefit quinoa & chia farming communities in Peru.
One of its current nutrition programs is focused on fighting iron deficiency in children and breastfeeding women through a series of workshops and relevant stakeholders, we are able to scale our impact and achieve greater economic, social, and environmental results”, Singh mentioned.
promoting quinoa consumption due to its nutritional properties and antianemic potential.
STEPS FORWARD ON THE ROAD TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY
The plant-based food trend is here to stay and is expected to grow between 6 to 7% annually, as increased health and environmental consciousness continue to drive consumer desires and decisions. This will go along with consumers’ increasing expectations for more sustainably sourced products that are good for the people, farming communities, and the planet. “We strongly believe our business in Peru is set to address current trends through an end-to-end model that is 100% transparent, sustainable, and traceable from farm to the shelf”, Biswajeet Singh assured.
INDUSTRY: Food & Drink
CONTACT:
Vice President sanjeev.sharma@olamagri.com
General Manager biswajeet.singh@olamagri.com
Sustainability Head marisol.escobar@olamagri.com
Sales Manager
marjorie.nakama@olamagri.com
+51 (1) 716 0720
Los Eucaliptos Lote 36, Santa Genoveva, Lima, Perú
www.olamagri.com
