Its wide sourcing footprint allows it to offer alternatives to food manufacturers, from countries that are not hit as hard by tariffs

 

[NEW YORK] The food ingredients arm of agribusiness giant Olam is well-positioned to mitigate the impact of rising food prices caused by US tariffs on end-consumers, said its chief sustainability officer Roel van Poppel.

 

&ldquo We believe that our global sourcing footprint and combination of multiple origins and destination production facilities help us at least to mitigate that potential disruption,&rdquo he told The Business Times in an interview, on the sidelines of Climate Week in New York City.

 

He noted that as the Olam Food Ingredients (ofi) value chain spans more than 60 countries, it can find alternatives for the food manufacturers that it supplies, reconfiguring supply chains to involve source countries that face lower tariff rates.

 

However, the impact is harder to avoid for ingredients where major producers face high duties, or for food manufacturers that prefer not to diversify their sources.

 

For example, Brazil and Vietnam are the world&rsquo s two largest exporters of coffee beans &ndash and both face high tariffs from the United States, at 50 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

 

Ofi is active in the supply and distribution of five major food ingredients &ndash cocoa, coffee, spices, nuts and dairy &ndash with the US as one of its major buyers. 

 

&ldquo Certain tariffs really negatively impact certain countries that are origins of key products,&rdquo said van Poppel.

 

&ldquo We&rsquo re monitoring the commentary around those tariffs, and we&rsquo re also looking at what the real implications are, but we know that food projects will be subject to tariffs,&rdquo he added, referring to activities such as sourcing or processing food.

 

&ldquo So we are worried about how we can continue to make coffee affordable for customers anywhere in the world.&rdquo

 

He added: &ldquo We would not applaud any major barriers, like a tariff, to add a cost that is not justifiable. And at the end of the day, it doesn&rsquo t come at the benefit of those who need it most, which in our case is the smallholder farmer.&rdquo

 

Farmers&rsquo resilience

Nonetheless, even while ofi makes short-term adjustments to supply chains in response to economic headwinds, the company remains undeterred when it comes to its long-term sustainability goals, said van Poppel.

 

It has identified four areas where it faces material risks and set targets for them. These are farmer prosperity, safeguarding human rights in its communities, climate action, and regenerating the living world.

 

Among its 2030 goals, ofi aims to provide enhanced livelihood support to one million farmer households within its supply chain, and enable 200,000 of them to earn a living income.

 

The company runs more than 130 multi-stakeholder programmes across its supply chain, working with customers, local governments, non-profits and farmer communities towards specific impact targets.

 

Van Poppel noted that these are multi-year programmes which will not yield concrete results within just two or three months. They include training to improve crop yield and quality, as well as &ldquo regenerative agriculture&rdquo , which refers to farming practices that restore and enhance soil health, biodiversity, water cycles and ecosystem resilience.

 

&ldquo (In our sustainability strategy), we always start with farmer livelihood and farm resilience. Because if that&rsquo s not in place, then the risk of serious infringements on the other side is increasing,&rdquo he said.

 

&ldquo If a farmer cannot provide for his family, doesn&rsquo t have a livelihood, cannot earn a living income, the risk of human rights issues is higher. The risk of a farmer encroaching into forests is higher. The risk of a farmer overdosing pesticides to maximise short-term yield is higher.&rdquo

 

He added: &ldquo No matter what&rsquo s happening in the world outside, we need to stay very close to that first mile, because that&rsquo s where the biggest risks exist, that&rsquo s where the biggest impact is to be created.&rdquo

 

While political moods and governments can change, ofi&rsquo s sustainability strategy involves making sure that the supply of food ingredients remains a resilient business, he said. 

 

Level playing field

Yet, even as end-consumers indicate that they increasingly want sustainable and traceable food, there are signals that they may not be willing to pay the price, noted van Poppel. 

 

This is where policymakers have to come in and provide a level playing field, by requiring food supplies to meet sustainability criteria, he said. One example might be that no deforestation should take place in food supply chains.

 

&ldquo If you&rsquo re looking at short-term prices, it is fair to say that more regenerative, more sustainable (food supplies) might not be cheaper. But in the longer term, it helps to create that resilience to keep products affordable for consumers, which is a difficult message to explain,&rdquo he added.

 

&ldquo I do think that regulation can help set that level playing field. It can help make sure that... companies that want to cut corners cannot do that, and it also rewards those companies that are taking sustainability seriously and really have that long-term view.&rdquo

There will be no changes to the constituents of the STI following the September 2025 review

 

[SINGAPORE] Food and agricultural giant Olam Group and investment management company Yangzijiang Financial will be added to the Straits Times Index&rsquo s (STI) reserve list, replacing two companies that are exiting, following the index&rsquo s latest quarterly review.

 

The two companies exiting the reserve list are hospitality player CapitaLand Ascott Trust and transport operator ComfortDelGro.

 

There will be no changes to the constituents of the STI following the September 2025 review.

 

The STI reserve list is made up of the five highest-ranking non-constituents of the STI by market capitalisation. Stocks on the reserve list replace STI constituents that become ineligible as a result of corporate action before the next quarterly review in December.

 

The other three companies on the reserve list are Keppel Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit), NetLink NBN Trust and Suntec Reit.

 

The changes take effect at the start of business on Sep 22.

 

FTSE Russell partners the Singapore Exchange and SPH Media Trust to jointly calculate the STI.

 

The STI is used as the basis for a range of financial products including exchange-traded funds, warrants, futures and other derivatives. It is reviewed quarterly in accordance with the index ground rules, and to facilitate the inclusion of eligible initial public offering stocks.

More than four-fifths of the impacted workers are from Indonesia others from Singapore, India, Australia

 

[SINGAPORE] Food and agri-business giant Olam : VC2 0% said on Thursday (Aug 28) that it will close Jiva Ag, a digital farmer services platform developed by the group&rsquo s venture arm, Nupo Ventures.

 

A total of 606 employees will be affected. 

 

Eight are from Singapore, where the group is headquartered and listed. Of the remaining, 531 are from Indonesia, 66 from India and one from Australia. 

 

Olam said that it is supporting the impacted workers with redeployment opportunities within the group or severance packages. They will also be provided with outplacement services and access to the group&rsquo s employee assistance programme. 

 

The closing was attributed to the expected continuing investment needed to sustain Jiva Ag&rsquo s operations in, what the group described as, &ldquo challenging times and difficult market conditions&rdquo . 

 

Two weeks ago, the group reported a 574 per cent climb in net profit for its first half-year ended Jun 30. But it also posted a loss of S$13.2 million related to the impairment of intangible assets within its incubating businesses segment &ndash primarily associated with Jiva Ag. 

 

Olam expects to book and announce one-off costs estimated at up to US$9 million related to the closure in its financial results for the second half of 2025, ending Dec 31. The costs are not expected to have a material impact on the group&rsquo s results in the current financial year, said the press statement. 

 

Intellectual property associated with Jiva Ag will be retained by Olam or one of its subsidiaries, it added. 

 

Olam noted that its decision follows its updated re-organisation plan for the year announced earlier in April, which aims to de-lever the balance sheet of the remaining Olam Group &ndash one of its three operating groups, the other two of which are Olam Food Ingredients and Olam Agri. 

 

The goal is to make the remaining Olam Group debt-free and self-sustaining, and to responsibly divest all of its assets and businesses over time, said the mainboard-listed company.