Olam launches sustainability report for chia and quinoa supply chains

Olam Superfoods, a leading supplier of processed quinoa and chia and part of Olam Food Ingredients, has produced its first sustainability report, outlining progress on positive impact created for farmers and communities in Peru. 

Chia seeds are nutrient-dense and often added to salads, yogurt and other everday foods. (Photo: Dreamstime.com)

The Olam Superfoods, Peru Sustainability Report shares how Olam has performed on its main focus areas locally since 2018. Key milestones include:

• Farmer training initiatives: educated over 350 farmers in organic methods each year and in 2020, helped over 2,500 farmers achieve third-party certification. 
• Health and nutrition programmes engaged over 1,100 children in the past two years.
• Public-private partnerships: helped over 500 farmers gain access to infrastructure,  funding, and technical assistance for organic quinoa production.
• COVID-19 relief: provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to 26% of farmers registered on AtSource+ for their post-harvest activities, hygiene kits to 18 farmer groups, handwashing stations to 50 farming communities as well as sensitisation campaigns on good hygiene practices.

Biswajeet Singh, General Manager, Olam Superfoods, said, "The appetite for on-trend superfoods like quinoa and chia has grown with consumers' awareness around healthy eating. There is also a strong interest in provenance, which means we need to be transparent about how we are bringing these foods to market in a responsible way that benefits the producers, their communities and the surrounding landscapes."

Daniela Rivas, Sustainability Head, Olam Superfoods, said, "With boots on the ground year-round, strong relationships with communities, and deep insights from our Olam Farmer Information System (OFIS) and sustainability insights platform AtSource+, we directly tackle the unique pain points faced by Peruvian farmers in a way that respects the heritage of quinoa and chia in Andean agriculture. This report serves to reaffirm our commitment to continue re-imagining agriculture and food systems in Peru and beyond."

Around 1,500 smallholders and their farms have been surveyed and mapped on OFIS between 2019-2020 and over 2,000 quinoa and chia farmers registered on AtSource+ in 2020.

The business sources directly from 3,000 smallholder farmers in the country across all the quinoa and chia growing regions, with an extended value chain of multiple actors including agronomists and processing operators. 

View the full report here.