OFI to open green powered cocoa bean warehouse

Powered by nearly 7,000 solar panels, the new warehouse could lead to the reduction of 1,350 tonnes of CO₂ ​per year – the equivalent of 67,500 trees absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.

Created in partnership with Commodity Centre Group, the warehouse features a novel conveyor belt system the enables greater segregation of bean to preserve their flavour while maintaining quality and traceability.

Driving decarbonisation

Chris Beetge, president of Europe, Middle East, and North Africa at OFI, said: “We’re always looking at ways to drive decarbonisation across our cocoa value chain from the farm to our processing facilities and warehouses. ​

“The milestone of turning our Amsterdam warehouse operation solar-powered is another example of how we’re not only progressing towards our own environmental goals but also supporting those of our customers and the national climate agendas of the Netherlands and the EU.”​

OFI’s new green warehouse is part of the group’s sustainable cocoa programme, Cocoa Compass, and its goal of reducing natural capital costs by 30% by 2030. It reduced these costs in 2021 in its global cocoa processing operations by 11% per metric ton of product output, partly due to investments in renewable energy initiatives

Commitment to sustainability

Alec Gunn, chief executive of Commodity Centre Group, added: “Our Group has been working closely with OFI for over 35 years, providing logistics and warehouse solutions in multiple locations. ​

“Commodity Centre’s Amsterdam Falcon and Osprey Terminals are shining examples of our continued commitment to incorporating sustainable solutions within our operations.”​

Meanwhile, Kraft Heinz has signed an agreement with Carlton Power to study the development of a renewable green hydrogen plant at its Kitt Green site in Wigan.​​

The proposed project has the potential to fuel at least 50% of Kraft Heinz’s Kitt Green manufacturing plant and will cost £40m.