Olam began operations in Uganda in 1997 and has since diversified its business scope into a portfolio of six core products including cotton, cocoa, sugar, palm oil, sesame and coffee. With our head office in the capital, Kampala, and regional presences in Hoima, Kibuku, Bundibugyo, Lira, Arua, Kitgum, Pakwach and Mayuge, we now employ more than 70 permanent staff and 224 seasonal employees across our operations.

Our business spans all parts of the agri-commodity value chain from origination and processing, to logistics, marketing and distribution. For coffee, cocoa and sesame, we maintain several processing lines in Kampala, supported by a well-equipped laboratory that helps us maintain excellent product standards. Our cotton is ginned using rollers, a process that albeit slow, helps maintain excellent fibre properties, spinning medium-to-fine counts using 28-30mm.

Our products are delivered across the world. Our coffee is marketed mainly to the European Union and North Sudan, our cocoa beans are demanded mostly in the USA and the Far East, our sesame is exported mainly to China and Japan, while our cotton is mostly sold in Southeast Asia. We also maintain an imports business that offers sugar and palm oil to East African origins like Burundi, Republic of Congo and Sudan.

We were recently feted again as “Exporter of the Year” for our service to the Ugandan economy, winning the award for a consecutive year.