18 Oct 2023 --- Olam food ingredients (ofi) has published data from its first Nuts Trails impact report regarding its cashew and hazelnut supply chains. Ofi’s plant-based ingredients are gaining international momentum for their nutrition and health wins, and these ingredients have reached over 105,000 consumers last year alone.

This is one of several milestones published in the impact report, which shares 12 months of progress data toward its 2030 cashew and hazelnut sustainability goals.

Nuts have seen a resurgence in popularity as plant-based foods gain international momentum. 

Consumers often opt for cashews, hazelnuts and almonds over other plant-based options like soy and oats because of their taste and perceived nutritional benefits. 

Speaking to Food Ingredients First, Burcu Turkay, global sustainability manager for nuts, explains the rising interest. “Nuts have long been a favorite with consumers because they are seen as tasty, natural and healthy, but now the shift toward plant-based products is giving them a fresh boost in popularity — in nuts milks and butters, for example. 

“Our research has found 58% of consumers expect to increase their plant-based consumption in the next two years. Many opt for nut-based options rather than alternatives like soy and oats because they believe they are tastier and have more nutritional benefits.”

Supply chain volatility
Farmers and their families producing nuts in countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Turkey don’t always have the means to meet their health and nutrition needs. For this reason, ofi deploys its local teams in producing countries to provide nutrition training, advice and health screenings to thousands of farmers, workers and their families.

“Most smallholder supply chains must contend with several perennial challenges, from aging farms and outdated farming practices to price fluctuations and disruptive weather events. The latter increases volatility in the market and aggravates the normal price cycle,” adds Turkay. 

Climate change is the most significant long-term challenge that the industry has to contend with and we have seen extreme weather events occurring with increasing frequency around the world. Heavy dew can affect the cashew crop and in Turkey, we’ve seen how late spring frosts and lack of rainfall during the critical nut development period can hamper hazelnut yields,” he explains. 

The industry’s harvest of hazelnuts this year has resulted in slightly lower seasonal yields than expected. Still, this variation is normal year-on-year, and we believe the current supply is adequate to meet existing demand. 

But these challenges are why ofi’s teams of agronomists and sustainability experts work with farmers year-round, delivering the tools and training to help ensure it’s economically viable for them to keep their farms going and supply the robust demand. 

Expert partnerships
Farmer poverty, human rights, and climate change are complex sector issues that no one company can solve. Ofi has relationships with farmers and communities on the ground, but we need expert partnerships with customers, communities, government bodies and civil society to scale impact.

“We are always looking for partners to join our programs or co-create new ones with us so that together we can drive real change,” Turkay highlights. 

Moreover, ofi’s field teams, led by its local businesses on the ground, provide a wide range of supportive measures to farmers, women and youth across our global sourcing network to tackle low incomes and improve economic opportunities. 

“Like many smallholders, cashew and hazelnut farmers often lack access to the right knowledge, skills or resources. Yields and quality can often be improved through training on good agricultural practices such as pruning and composting and providing access to labor-saving technology and additional income streams,” explains Turkay. 

Global nut communities 
For instance, in Côte d’Ivoire, wher malnutrition contributes to the stunted growth and development of one in five children, ofi’s cashew team partnered with the National Nutrition Program (PNN) to geo-locate and screen over 2,500 children in cashew communities using the newly developed Infant Malnutrition System alert (IMSA) smartphone-based application. 

As a result, 49 moderate and acute cases were identified and referred to healthcare facilities. Ten boreholes were also installed to provide communities with access to safe drinking water.

In Turkey, which produces two-thirds of the world’s hazelnuts and relies on a large migrant workforce for harvest, over 1,500 female workers received health screenings and advice from social workers to diagnose and prevent conditions such as diabetes and anemia. 

“It’s important the nuts we source for our customers are also good for the people and communities that produce them,” says Ashok Krishen, CEO of Nuts at ofi. 

“Together with our customers and partners, our teams work in and with these communities to improve access to vital health services and nutrition advice as part of our strategy to find more creative, productive, and sustainable ways of supplying cashew and hazelnut ingredients.”

2030 targets
The report also details progress made by ofi’s cashew and hazelnuts teams in the last year against 2030 targets on farmer livelihoods, human rights and climate action. 

This includes reaching a 2030 target of training 100% of hazelnut workers in ofi’s sustainability programs on gender equality, labor, and children’s rights, distributing over US$1 million in premiums to help cashew farmers get the best possible value from their crop, and conducting soil analysis for over 700 hazelnut farmers to optimize fertilizer use. 

“Our objective is to find more creative, productive, and sustainable ways of supplying cashew and hazelnut ingredients,” outlines Turkey. “We have set dedicated 2030 targets aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to scale up our impact on the most pressing issues in these supply chains by working with partners to improve farmer profitability, protect the rights of children and workers, and empower women in these farming communities.”

“The data we collect at every step of the supply chain, from farm to factory, tells us wher we’re making a difference and how we can have even greater impact. Turkey addresses that by making this data visible to our customers via our sustainability management system, AtSource. We hope to encourage more partnerships to co-create more significant and better impact.”

“Together, it means that the nuts in our favorite snacks and plant-based products deliver on flavor and functionality, as well as add value for the farmers and communities they come from.”