News Bites

Olam has scored a first – it has been featured in a prestigious survey lauding the top food firms around the globe.

Olam was placed at Number 31 in the Food Engineering magazine’s annual The Top 100 Food and Beverage Companies in the World.

The company made it into the chart following the acquisition of ADM’s cocoa business at the end of 2015.

Industry bible Food Engineering magazine conducts a survey every year, but this is the first time Olam has made it into the Top 100.

It comes just a month after Olam was featured in the Fortune Magazine Change the World list of the Top 50 companies thriving while doing good work at the same time. We were voted Number 23 in that survey.

Food Engineering magazine’s September edition report stated: “Despite the potential for growth, changes in commodity prices and the sourcing of raw materials play a major part in any winning strategy, and current volatility is bringing sourcing increasingly under the spotlight.

“According to Greg Estep, managing director and CEO of Olam’s Spices and Vegetable Ingredients, changes in the state of play for many commodities is forcing all parts of the agricultural supply chain to acknowledge that resources of land, water and energy are limited. The ADM acquisition will help meet the increasing demand for full integration within the cocoa supply chain, and according to Olam, its newly created Olam Cocoa division now offers scalability in sourcing through supply chain to product innovation and sustainability.”

The magazine quoted Greg Estep who said: “Consumers want to know more about where their food comes from, which is leading to more connectivity in the agricultural supply chain from seed/inputs at the farm to the consumer. There is also greater recognition that we need to be more prepared to adjust to situations of drought/flooding and temperature changes.It’s going to be difficult to feed a growing world, and food production that meets the nutrition needs of the world should be prioritized; and it is important to invest in greater productivity in agricultural production.”

The survey put Nestle at Number 1 and Kellogg’s at 27. Read the full rundown here.