Celebrating World Food Safety Day with ofi

World Food Safety Day which is observed annually on June 7, reinforces the vital role of safe and sustainable food practices. Among the many ingredients at the heart of the F&B industry, cocoa emerges a major component in many products, and a commodity with complex safety challenges. Any responsible company knows that from farm and fermentation to processing and distribution, ensuring the integrity of cocoa is essential in safeguarding consumer health. Strict regulations, transparent supply chains, and innovative testing methods are necessary to meet demand for ethically sourced and contamination-free cocoa.

For Olam Food Ingredients (ofi), these are all part of everyday operations. On World Food Safety Day, the company and its stakeholders acknowledge their achievements and engage in discussions on food safety initiatives and future campaigns. We learn more about these from the following interview with Joan O’Shea, Senior Vice President Global for Quality & Food Safety, ofi.

Joan O’Shea, Senior Vice President Global for Quality & Food Safety, ofi

How does ofi celebrate World Food Safety Day?

At ofi, we put Quality & Food Safety at the heart of all we do. World food safety day is no exception, a day in which we spotlight the people at the heart of what we do – delivering great tasting food and beverages that are safe for customers (food brands and manufacturers) and their consumers.

The company celebrates the progress we've made and the areas we're focusing on as we continue strengthening our food safety culture. Our senior leadership will be in a global town hall broadcast across the world to emphasize the importance of food safety. We will also have local activations across our manufacturing facilities in over 50 countries marking the day with awareness activities. Site-level celebrations are also then shared across our global intranet to foster engagement, learnings and alignment across our business.

For the second year running, we have invited customers to address our teams, emphasizing the common need to build food safety excellence together from farm to fork. These messages are shared globally and reinforce what we collectively strive towards: the delight and safety of families around the world.

Are there new initiatives that the company can discuss in relation to promoting food safety?

We continue to strengthen our food safety culture through both technology and people-focused initiatives. We are launching a new global learning and development platform that allows us to standardize training modules and ensure consistent application of food safety protocols across all our facilities.

We’ve also introduced a frontline initiative called “See it, Say it, Sort it.” Every day, a team will conduct Good Management Practices (GMP) walks across segments of our factories. These aren’t just compliance checks, they’re open conversations with frontline employees, offering both positive reinforcement and constructive feedback. It’s more than about identifying gaps, it’s about embedding mindfulness and strengthening the culture of food safety into our daily actions and making quality a lived experience at every level of the organization.

This year, we will reinforce our daily GMP walks with a digital monitoring tool – a dashboard view to identify areas for improvement and scale learnings at the regional and global level. We are also able to trend the results and target interventions as required.

We have also introduced a global food safety internal audit program. This is all about driving change from within. We are constantly identifying opportunities to better improve our ofi food safety Quality Management System with the aim of preventing any further risks from developing.

How is safety and quality ensured throughout your supply chain?

Food safety and quality is non-negotiable in our industry, and we recognize the role we play across our integrated supply chain. We apply a rigorous, multi-layered approach that spans from farm to fork.

Our facilities follow stringent sanitation controls and environmental monitoring programs to detect potential contamination risks before they impact the final product. As required, ofi maintains controlled environments across our facilities to minimize bacterial growth, including strict temperature and humidity controls.

We have also been utilizing emerging technologies to refine our processes. For instance, the team in Koog aan der Zaan, Netherlands integrated a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) at its laboratory testing facility. This system automates data capture from processing equipment, reducing manual entry and enabling more frequent and accurate measurements.

Additionally, we have developed a process that allows us to use Near-Infrared (NIR) technology to measure key quality parameters of Cocoa. This significantly reduces analysis time, allowing for more rapid and reliable data collection. This initiative is now being rolled out globally.

Are there innovations in the way you produce and market ingredients?

ofi has been actively exploring and implementing various innovations to enhance food safety across its supply chain.

Traceability is a critical element of food safety, and ofi has introduced various technologies and partnerships with like-minded stakeholders across the food supply chain to better enable this digitally. Digital capabilities that allow us to offer traceability all the way to a farm owned by a female Cassia farmer in Yen Bai, Vietnam, for example.

With over 2.4 million direct and indirect farmers in its supply chain network. We also partner with farmers to encourage the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices that will help maintain yield and produce quality. This work is supported by our global team of over 500 sustainability experts and enabled by technologies such as ofi Direct, OFIS, Track & Trace, and AtSource, that validate the chain of custody and enhance the traceability of supply chains.

We see the future for digitization within the supply chain at ofi as ‘Supply Chain 4.0’. Through the implementation of extensive automation, advanced robotics and sensors widely across the supply chain, we can utilize connected networks to gather and analyze big data that enables consistent optimization, efficiency and most importantly, uphold the highest standards of food safety across the entire value chain.

Our innovation is not limited to food safety, it extends to how we deliver value-added, sustainable ingredients. We’ve developed a process to produce cascara — the pulp and skin of coffee cherries — cascara ingredients, by rescuing coffee pulp and skin from the waste stream across our global sourcing network. This upcycling process means we can bring valuable nutrients back into the food supply, reduce greenhouse gases, and increase revenues for coffee farmers. For our customers, it also means we can offer soluble cascara powder that’s traceable and certified as an upcycled ingredient by the Upcycled Food Association (UFA).

Our FFMP (Fat-filled Milk Powder) range provides excellent performance across various applications. For instance, FFMP designed for beverage applications is formulated to deliver on key performance areas such as wettability and solubility. This functionality allows the FFMP to dissolve without floating particles and sediments, creating a smooth and rich dairy-based beverage.

Beyond beverages, FFMP can be applied in a wide range of food products, from an ingredient in ice cream and yogurt, to bakery goods, culinary sauces, snacks and more. A good source of essential minerals, and proteins, FFMP offers a convenient way for consumers to incorporate dairy goodness into their diet. Our FFMPs have also been fortified with vitamins A, D3, and E to enhance its nutritional value.

What role does responsible sourcing play in improving food safety? How is this implemented in ofi?

Sourcing, processing and co-creating food ingredients and solutions are core components to our ofi business. And sourcing our ingredients responsibly is a key part of what we do.

Specifically, ofi’s sustainability strategy, “Choices for Change”, emphasizes responsible sourcing and supply chain excellence. This includes investing in traceability and transparency, which are crucial for both sustainability and food safety. By deploying teams across major growing regions, and utilizing digital tools, ofi ensures adherence to strict quality and safety standards throughout its supply chain.

Building on the 30-year legacy of Olam, ofi continues to have a deep-rooted presence at the farm gates and strengthened relationships across a direct and indirect farmer network.  We recognize that quality starts at the source, and that’s why we invest and partner with customers, local governments, NGOs and farmers on training sessions to learn technical skills and land-management practices, and scale digital tools that promote data-driven and regenerative agriculture practices across our supply chain.

Through our sustainability management system AtSource we monitor farming practices, ensure safe handling at origin, and improve livelihoods, which in turn supports higher quality, safer food ingredients.

By embedding food safety into our sourcing protocols, we’re able to address risks at the root—whether it’s providing clean water access, implementing good agricultural practices, or controlling the use of pesticides to deliver safe product. This approach strengthens food safety while supporting our broader goals around sustainability and community development.