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Mondelez teams with Olam Food Ingredients on cocoa farm

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April 21, 2021

Mondelēz International Inc., a snack manufacturer, and Olam Food Ingredients, a supplier of cocoa beans and cocoa ingredients, have partnered to create the world's single largest sustainable commercial cocoa farm, according to a press release. The model builds on Mondelēz International's experience with the company's sustainable sourcing program, Cocoa Life, and OFI's ambition for sustainable cocoa, Cocoa Compass, to test a scalable approach for the future of commercial cocoa farming.

From sensors in fields to irrigation systems, the project will use climate smart and plant science technology as innovations included in this 2,000-hectare cocoa farm on Seram, the largest island in Maluku province in Indonesia. The model tests a blueprint for best practice cocoa farming, optimal land usage and farming community planning which will be explored as a potential model for replication across the region.

The partnership aims to deliver:

• The creation of 700 jobs for local residents in an area which has limited income opportunities due to its isolated location. Nearly half of these employment opportunities will go to women.
• 2,000 hectares of previously deforested brown field land, which will be planted with cocoa, shade trees, forest and fruit trees to promote biodiversity and carbon capture. More than 1,080 hectares have already been planted across the total plantation area of 3,380 hectares.
• An area of 47 hectares which has been identified as high conservation value forest.
• A seedling nursery which can grow up to one million high-yielding cocoa seedlings each year.
• Access to healthcare and education for all employees and their families, as well as housing, electricity, water and day care for the 200 families who live on site.