ofi Said No to Child Labor With its Suppliers
ofi held the Annual Suppliers Meeting in the East and West Black Sea Region in 2018. This year’s theme was “Eliminating Child Labor – Children are at School Not in the Farms.” The Suppliers’meeting brought together hazelnut traders who played an intermediary role between the company and the farmer in the process of exporting hazelnut.
At the meeting held, the 2017 hazelnut season was assessed and the issues of Traceability and Sustainability, the future of hazelnuts, were discussed. The meeting was hosted by ofi Country Head Ufuk ÖZONGUN, General Manager Hakan KARAKAŞ and Sustainability Manager Burcu TÜRKAY. Every year, a guest speaker is invited to address the theme of the year. In this year’s meeting Prof. Dr. Zeynep ŞİMŞEK has been invited as a guest speaker. She is a Professor at the Istanbul Bilgi University and acting as the Department Head of the Social Services as well as acting as a consultant to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Ministry of Health. She gave a speech on how to eliminate child labor in hazelnut farming, the health and safety issues during harvest and the risk mitigating in the farms.
There was a detailed presentation of the Olam Supplier Code and ofi. All the participants were asked to sign the Olam Supplier Code. There was a good crowd and participants were content to be part of this meeting. In order to, highlight the CR&S work that ofi is doing in the field and honoring the intermediaries who are taking the lead in the sustainability work in the field, ofi organized an Award Ceremony for the OLC Program Suppliers. Following the presentations and speeches the meeting continued with the Award ceremony. Prizes were awarded to suppliers who supported the work carried out in the Agricultural and Social Areas within the scope of the Sustainability Program. The categories of the awards were as follows.
- The Sustainability Program Social Award
- The Sustainability Program Agricultural Award
- The Sustainability Program Special Award (The most visited and hosted Supplier)
- The Sustainability Program Honorary Award (The longest Supplier in the program)
Besides these 4 categories, all of the suppliers in the Sustainability Program have received a certificate.