ofi appoints new chief sustainability officer

Reporting directly to CEO A. Shekhar, Roppel will also be a member of ofi’s corporate leadership team and is regarded as an industry leader with extensive experience across both ingredients and sustainability.

He said: “It’s a privilege to lead the ofi Sustainability team with its depth of expertise and relentless commitment. My mission is to grow the reach of ofi’s programmes even further, collaborating with customers and suppliers on the ground to drive positive impact. Together, we will ignite greater opportunities and game-changing outcomes for ofi and our partners.”

His previous experience includes senior leadership roles at Cargill and Wild Flavors before joining ofi’s parent company Olam Group in 2013 as the global commercial lead for its spices business. He then moved internally to lead the growth of the award-winning sustainability insights management system AtSource. Most recently, Roppel was seconded by Olam Group as a co-founder of the wider industry-led sustainability measurement digital platform TRACT. 

Commenting on the appointment, ofi Shekhar said: “Sustainability sits at the heart of ofi’s business model so that we can partner with customers who want their products to benefit farmers and the planet. Roel brings the perfect mix of strategic vision, business acumen and commercial leadership to inspire the whole of ofi to continually deliver on our purpose to Be the Change for Good Food and a Healthy Future.”

Ingredient solutions

Ofi has also launched a new commercial platform – ofi F&B Solutions – which will be part of its Ingredients & Solutions reporting segment to better support a diverse range of customer requirements.

Those customers seeking excellence in single ingredients, from sourcing to manufacturing, will continue to be supported by ofi’s five leading product platforms in Cocoa, Coffee, Dairy, Nuts and Spices with their global origination and sourcing capabilities, competitive sustainability offering, and deep plant science and product innovation expertise.

Ofi said the service will be further strengthened through close collaboration with the F&B Solutions platform to offer category insight and application development capacity so single ingredient customers can benefit from more value-added ingredients and services.