Olivier Laboulle
COFFEE EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
I love coffee. I have always been grateful for those who make my daily cup of coffee possible. Especially the farmers who grow the beans that I grind every morning.
I have dedicated my career to sustainability, specifically focusing on agricultural supply chains and supporting cocoa and coffee smallholder farmers for the past 10 years. I have worked, as Global Head of Coffee Sustainability and Social Impact at Louis Dreyfus Company since 2020. In this role, I oversee the implementation of our non-deforestation commitment, compliance with EUDR, the production of responsibly sourced coffee and the roll-out of LDC’s farmer support programme called Stronger Coffee Initiative, among other.
INVOLVEMENT WITH GCP AND / OR OTHER SUSTAINABILITY ORGANIZATIONS
When I joined LDC as Global Head of Sustainability for Coffee, one of my first decisions was to join the GCP. Having worked as Head of Programmes for the International Cocoa Initiative, (a leading multi-stakeholder cocoa sector initiate), I am a firm believer in the importance of pre-competitive collaboration for sustainability.
Since LDC joined in 2021, I have been representing LDC at the GCP, actively participating in webinars, taking part in strategic consultations, and advising on EM and Global Common Code reviews.
I currently Co-Chair the Sustainability Committee of the European Coffee Federation, together with Dr. Sarah Tischer from NKG. I also represent LDC in the Sustainable Coffee Challenge (SCC), the technical working groups of the ICO Public Private Task Force and the Swiss Sustainable Coffee Platform (SSCP).
Together with a few of LDC’s competitors, I contributed to the co-design of https://www.tract.eco/.
I am a staunch advocate of the pivotal role of Traders in the coffee value chain.
HOW WILL YOU SUPPORT GCP’S WORK AND GOAL?
The challenges facing the sector have already evolved since 2021 and below are the areas which I specifically would like to support:
1. Promote pre-competitive collaboration in origin to ensure local actors are supported collectively to meet the upcoming EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products.
2. Ensure greater alignment between all sustainability-related pre-competitive forums (SSCP, DKV, ECF, SCC, ICO, etc.) to limit the sector’s time spent on coordination and maximize the time spent on generating impact for the 1 million coffee farmers targeted by the GCP 2.0 strategy.
3. The Equivalence Mechanism v2.0 has created a credible level-playing field and prevents a race to the bottom. As a board member, I would promote it and make sure it stays relevant in the face of EUDR and other changes in the sector.
4. Following the adage “what is not measured, cannot be improved”, GCP’s work on Collective Reporting and the data framework is critical to make sure we, as a sector, can track our progress and hold ourselves accountable against our objectives. Linking to initiatives such as DIASCA and TRACT is important in this context.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR A SUSTAINABLE COFFEE SECTOR?
The vision of LDC’s Stronger Initiative farmer support programme is “A world where every cup of coffee improves lives and restores the planet.” Imagine if each cup of coffee consumed around the world was actively contributing to the fight against climate change and yield a premium for the farmers! This could be truly sustainable.