This article is adapted from https://techcollectivesea.com/2024/10/01/tech-global-supply-chain-transparency-koltiva/
The global agricultural landscape is undergoing significant transformation as businesses face increasing pressure to meet stringent regulatory demands, ensure sustainability, and provide traceability across supply chains. With growing consumer expectations for transparency, companies are compelled to adopt more sustainable and ethical sourcing practices. This shift is driven by the need to protect natural ecosystems, prevent deforestation, and improve the livelihoods of smallholder producers.
One of the companies that is doing something about this is KOLTIVA, an Indonesia-based sustainable farming and supply chain traceability startup. Established in 2013, the company is digitizing agribusinesses and enhancing global supply chain transparency. Initially focused on Indonesia’s cocoa industry, the company has since expanded to support over 10,400 businesses across 65 countries and 58 commodities, including palm oil, rubber, seaweed, and shrimp farming. By leveraging state of the art technology and a boots-on-the-ground approach, KOLTIVA offers businesses a holistic solutions for tracking products from seed to table, ensuring compliance with sustainability standards.
We wanted to speak to Manfred Borer, Co-Founder and CEO at KOLTIVA about the industry and company. As businesses navigate the complexities of regulatory compliance, such as the European Union’s Deforestation-Free Products Regulation, KOLTIVA’s comprehensive services have become indispensable. From mapping smallholder producer land to facilitating digital financial inclusion, the company’s innovative solutions are helping businesses maintain supply chain integrity while promoting sustainable agricultural practices. KOLTIVA’s commitment to empowering smallholder producers and improving supply chain transparency positions it as a key player in the ongoing global shift toward more responsible and sustainable agriculture.
Vision Behind Founding KOLTIVA
The journey of founding KOLTIVA in 2013 was driven by a vision to become the world’s leading tech company in building ethical, transparent, and sustainable supply chains. Over the past decade, we have been driving an ambitious sustainability journey, driven by the increasing complexity of regulatory demands, environmental protection, and social economics; our business empowers 10,800+ registered agribusinesses and enterprises across 58 commodities — spanning cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, and more—to transform global supply chain traceability and transparency. Co-founded by sustainability-experts founders with over 12+ years of experience in global supply chains and impact-backed companies, including Ainu Rofiq, Furqonuddin Ramdhani, and I, we set out to address the pressing challenges of global supply chains that are increasingly complex and face a myriad of challenges and issues that affect their efficiency, sustainability, and reliability.
Starting with our CocoaTrace platform in 2013, we successfully launched a cloud-based traceability solution for cocoa enterprises in Indonesia, enhancing supply chain transparency for smallholder cocoa producers, the first mobile data collection app designed to digitize smallholder cocoa producers. Since then, KOLTIVA has experienced exponential growth, emerging as a leader in sustainable farming and supply chain traceability, supporting over businesses in four global regions and markets. Our comprehensive solutions have become essential for agri-enterprises seeking sustainability, traceability, and regulatory compliance. From our roots in Indonesia, we now have a worldwide presence, with operations in 65 countries, 9 business entities, and 16 country support offices in Brazil, Mexico, Ivory Coast, China, India, and more countries in 4 regions.
Building on our success in cocoa traceability, we scaled up our operations to include boots-on-the-ground solutions for palm oil businesses, offering training and coaching on sustainable agricultural practices. In 2018, we further broadened our scope to include the seascape, expanding into seaweed and shrimp farming, reflecting our commitment to advancing sustainable aquaculture globally. In 2021, we introduced our integrated traceability and farm management software (KoltiTrace), along with KoltiSkills, our boots-on-the-ground extension services and training arm with expert agronomists and field team, also KoltiPay, our responsible digital finance services with an eWallet feature integrated into our technology solution.
2023 marked a significant milestone as we expanded our global influence, establishing a new legal entity in France and solidifying our presence in the European market. This expansion underscores our commitment to diversity and inclusion as foundational elements for sustainable business growth. By the end of 2023, our project portfolio surged by 122%, reflecting our strengthened global presence. Within this diverse and dynamic environment, skilled professionals from various backgrounds collaborate effectively, contributing to our ongoing success and reinforcing our position as a global leader. Our workforce also grew by 52% in 2023; as to date, we now comprise over 1,000 talented individuals worldwide.
In the same year, we made significant strides in transforming the rubber sector by supporting companies in Ivory Coast, Thailand, and Indonesia. Since our active involvement in the rubber industry began in 2019, we have registered over 186,015 smallholders and have mapped more than 1,096,068 hectares of their land. Our services encompass producer mapping and surveying, training and coaching, traceability support, and legality support & certification. We take pride in the fact that 23 rubber factories in Indonesia, Ivory Coast, and Thailand are already utilizing KoltiTrace.
With sustainability at the heart of our business, we deliver Seed-to-Table transparency in complex global supply chains, overseeing every stage of the supply chain life cycle for all stakeholders. Our commitment to cocoa sustainability has been a long-standing journey marked by significant achievements. Our traceability platform enabled numerous cocoa clients in Indonesia, Ecuador, and Ivory Coast to register over 476,000 producers. Additionally, we support businesses in coaching 56,400 producers and SMEs, registering production plots, and verifying their farm plots and production areas. To enhance financial inclusion for smallholders, we have also facilitated the distribution of premiums to more than 18,000 cocoa producers, by December 2023.
In the palm oil sector, by 2023, we have advanced sustainability by assisting 2,100 enterprises and traders and providing training and coaching to over 5,600 producers. Responding to the increasing demands from consumers and regulatory bodies, the palm oil industry is prioritizing sustainability and traceability in its supply chains. Since 2017, we have partnered with multinational and local corporations to reshape markets, making sustainable palm oil the standard and achieving traceability from plantations to end products, to track and trace goods from seed to table, and enable them to protect and enhance natural ecosystems, while improving the livelihoods of palm oil smallholder producers and rural communities.
Our technology solutions and on-the-ground services support multinationals in tracking and tracing goods from seed to table, protecting and enhancing natural ecosystems, and improving the livelihoods of palm oil smallholder producers and rural communities. We also work directly with producers, providing training and coaching on sustainable farming practices that comply with RSPO standards, zero-deforestation policies, and other sustainability requirements. Our efforts have registered over 168,696 palm oil producers and 2,457 downstream businesses and trained or coached 2,551 smallholder producers by August 2024.
These innovations highlight our dedication to addressing the critical challenges in today’s global agricultural landscape, which demand effective solutions. Among the most pressing issues for agribusinesses worldwide is the lack of transparency and traceability, making it difficult to monitor the origin and movement of goods. This can result in problems like fraud, counterfeiting, and regulatory non-compliance and raise concerns about ethical sourcing, with companies potentially sourcing materials linked to deforestation, labour exploitation, or other unethical practices.
Furthermore, transparency and traceability are not just about preventing fraud and ensuring compliance; they are also essential to tackling broader issues of sustainability and environmental impact. The carbon footprint associated with transportation, packaging, and production is significant, and unsustainable practices like deforestation, overfishing, and excessive water use are common in many supply chains, contributing to environmental degradation and climate change.
Labour and human rights issues are also prevalent in global supply chains, particularly in developing countries, where poor working conditions, low wages, child labour, and forced labour are common. These issues pose ethical concerns and create reputational risks for companies.
Finally, while technology can significantly enhance supply chain efficiency, it also presents challenges. Integrating advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, and traceability platforms requires substantial investment and expertise, adding another layer of complexity for businesses.
Navigating the Path to Digitizing Agribusinesses and Advancing Sustainable Practices for Smallholder Producers
We recognize that the path to digitizing agribusinesses and promoting sustainable practices among smallholder producers is not without its hurdles, particularly in rural areas. Addressing these obstacles are multifaceted, demands more than just technological innovation—it requires a thorough grasp of industry knowledge and hands-on implementation experience. This is where our technology and service solutions with a ‘Boots-on-the-Ground’ approach proves invaluable. By integrating human-centered technology that focuses on users with extensive agricultural knowledge, expert agronomists and field agents work directly with all supply chain actors, from producers, collectors/traders, input shops, and buying stations to the agribusinesses seamlessly achieve a resilient supply chain.
One of the most significant obstacles we face is the lack of reliable infrastructure. Take Indonesia for example, though the internet speed has surged tenfold in decade, there are still regions, especially in rural areas, which have limited electricity and internet access, causing technological adoption to seem impossible. But we’ve adapted. Our FarmCloud application, for instance, is designed to address these limitations. Producers can download essential training materials and resources when they have internet access, allowing them to continue learning offline ensuring that infrastructural gaps do not hinder their progress. On the other side, we assist businesses with KoltiTrace MIS, a traceability platform for web and mobile apps. This platform enables Field Staff to do the polygon mapping even in offline-mode, and seamlessly sync the data when a signal is available.
Limited digital literacy is another significant barrier. Many producers have limited experience using digital tools and the idea of using a smartphone for anything other than basic communication can be daunting. That’s why our approach is centered on empowerment and continuous support. Our field teams conduct regular training sessions demonstrating not only how to use our KoltiTrace MIS applications also explaining the tangible benefits of digitization—such as improved access to markets and financial services, enhanced sustainable agricultural practices, and better economic opportunities. These sessions go beyond mere instruction; they’re about building trust and empowering producers to envision and seize a better future.
Moreover, integrating sustainable farming practices requires more than just knowledge; it demands a shift in mindset and behavior. Our expert agronomists work tirelessly on the ground to provide Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) module training, personalized guidance based on specific crops and commodities, ensuring that producers understand how sustainable practices can lead to better yields, healthier soils, and more resilient communities. This hands-on approach helps producers see the immediate benefits of their actions, encouraging wider adoption and long-term commitment.
Our FarmCloud application is a testament to how modern technology can bridge the gap between rural limitations and opportunities. By offering access to vital information on sustainable farming, digital financial services like savings, financial records (money-in, money-out), pay later access, crop transaction, input shops purchase from the nearest kiosks, to receive the premium payment with cashless facilities through our responsible eWallet feature, KoltiPay. By providing a one-stop platform for all these needs, FarmCloud empowers producers to be more self-sufficient, economically stable, and better prepared for the future.
Picture a smallholder producer, perhaps in a remote village in Aceh, where the average producer cultivates less than 2 hectares of land, just as the ancestors have done for generations. With minimal exposure to modern agricultural practices, let alone digital tools, the idea of using a smartphone for farming or financial services might seem like a distant dream. However, at KOLTIVA, we’ve seen how our holistic approach transcends technology; it’s about cultivating a new mindset in rural agriculture. We’ve built a community of over 1.4 million informed, empowered producers who are now equipped to thrive in today’s world. By addressing their unique challenges with tailored solutions, we’re not just helping them adapt—we’re laying the foundation for a more sustainable and prosperous future for everyone.
“Seed-to-Table” Approach Ensuring Transparency and Sustainability in the Supply Chain
We’ve seen firsthand how a single seed’s journey to your table can impact lives, ecosystems, and economies. Our Seed-to-Table approach isn’t just about processes—it’s about people and ensuring that every step in the chain is transparent, sustainable, and traceable. In fact, we’ve managed to improve supply chain visibility with our solutions, making it easier for consumers to trust what they’re buying and for producers to ensure fair practices.
Let’s take a journey through this value chain, starting from the beginning. Consider the distributor, supplier or manufacturer crafting essential agricultural inputs, like fertilizers and seeds. These inputs are then supplied to agricultural stores (kiosks) in rural areas with our KoltiTrace MIS. At the same time, we offer wider market access where Kiosks use the FarmRetail mobile application, a versatile e-commerce platform that empowers them to market and sell their products directly to local producers. With our registered distributors, nurseries, and kiosks to date, this application not only supports inventory and sales management through a robust system but also facilitates digital transactions and agricultural input financing via KoltiPay, our digital wallet feature, and update their stocks seamlessly from the reliable and trusted distributors, suppliers, manufactures.
Once the agricultural inputs reach the producers, the next chapter of this story unfolds in the fields. Producers use the inputs to cultivate their crops. The FarmCloud mobile application plays a pivotal role here, offering them access to valuable field and sales data, digital training materials, and the means to verify transactions and purchase inputs from nearby stores. Moreover, FarmCloud supports producers in applying for agricultural financing and enables them to sell their harvests to collectors or traders (crop transaction). This app also facilitates cashless payments through KoltiPay, further integrating financial inclusion into the daily lives of producers from monthly household payment like social insurance payments, internet payment, phone and data credits/vouchers, electricity, water, to the pay later access where produces get chances to do purchase agri inputs and pay by selling the crops during their harvest seasons.
As the crops mature and are ready for harvest, the story continues to the buying stations, where the FarmGate application ensures seamless traceability of every transaction for an impressive hundreds of registered buying stations and traders, whether it involves cash payments, digital payments, or a combination of both (50% paid in cash, 50% paid digitally). This application not only streamlines the buying process but also records and tracks every transaction, ensuring full traceability from farm to market.
Technology can drive change—but it needs a human touch to perfect it. That’s where KoltiSkills, our ‘Boots on the Ground’ team, comes in. This team provides hands-on assistance, from training producers in good agricultural practices to verifying data and even helping with carbon emission verification. For traders and collectors, KoltiSkills offers guidance on purchasing harvests through FarmGate, ensuring responsible sourcing practices and preparing them for external audits or certifications.
Once the harvest is collected, the crops are transported to processors, who transform them into various products. These processors use the KoltiTrace MIS web platform to manage operations and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. This platform provides them with all the tools necessary to maintain transparency and traceability, aligning with responsible sourcing standards.
The final step of this journey brings us to the retail stores, where processed and manufactured products are made available to consumers. Using the KoltiTrace SHOP platform, we guarantee that every product on the shelf has travelled a transparent and sustainable path from seed to table. Increasing consumer expectations are compelling the industry to embrace more sustainable and ethical approaches. We empower businesses to offer QR codes, enabling consumers to trace products back to their origins and ensuring 100% traceability without any association with deforestation, forced labour, or other unsustainable sourcing practices. Additionally, we assist multinational corporations (MNCs) and micro, small, medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and producer cooperatives in marketing their traceable products directly to consumers via our D2C platform, KoltiTrace SHOP. This platform aims to raise awareness about ethical consumerism and promote conscious consumption of sustainable products.
Our Seed-to-Table approach isn’t just about building a better supply chain; it’s about nurturing a sustainable future. Watching the first seed take root, I realized that every step taken in the journey—from the seed to your table—matters. By combining technology with on-the-ground expertise, we’re not just ensuring transparency and sustainability; we’re empowering the very people who make this all possible. Creating an agricultural ecosystem where every seed planted, and every product purchased supports a brighter, more sustainable future for all.
Elevates Technology-Driven Solutions to Promote Sustainable Agriculture through Boots-on-the-Ground Strategy
We’ve always believed that real change in agriculture goes beyond traceability It’s about implementation expertise and experience. Our expert agronomist, field staff, they’re the heartbeat of our ‘Boots on the Ground’ strategy. Our field agents spend time with the producers and all supply chain actors, improving their capacity and demonstrating the potential benefits of good agricultural practices. That’s the difference we make, turning sustainability goals into tangible realities on the ground.
Our Boots-on-the-Ground approach revolves around supply chain mapping and verification, training & coaching, business support, and certification preparation. They don’t just visit farms; they immerse themselves in the community, building trust and rapport while collecting critical data that feeds into our KoltiTrace platform. This platform includes various tools — KoltiTrace MIS Apps, FarmCloud, and FarmRetail — that together create a comprehensive picture of the agricultural process from the field to the marketplace.
Using KoltiTrace Mobile Apps, our field agents gather real-time data on producers, capturing detailed information such as names, addresses, contact details, and even geolocation data through GPS points or polygons. This meticulous data collection allows us to map the origin of products accurately, verify farming practices and emissions, and track training progress and crop transaction history. It’s not just about data—it’s about empowering producers to meet sustainability standards and comply with regulations, ensuring that their efforts are recognized and rewarded in the marketplace.
Our Boots-on-the-Ground team provides hands-on support to agribusinesses and producers alike, guiding them through the complexities of sustainable practices and regulatory compliance. For instance, our field team offers tailored training and coaching to smallholder producers, teaching them techniques to improve soil health, optimize water use, and reduce reliance on chemical inputs. These practices not only boost productivity but also contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions, fostering a more sustainable agricultural environment.
Our Boots-on-the-Ground team also plays a crucial role in business support, particularly in ensuring product traceability from seed to table. They monitor every actor in the supply chain, helping verify the journey of agricultural products and ensuring transparency at every step. This includes supporting certificate holders with managing certification cycles, preparing documentation, conducting external audits, and obtaining land legality documents—all of which are vital for meeting international sustainability standards.
Securing certifications can be a game-changer for producers, yet many find the process daunting. That’s where our Boots-on-the-Ground team comes in. Take, for example, a group of palm producers in Sumatera who lacked the documents needed for Rainforest Alliance certification. Our team didn’t just help them with paperwork—we worked alongside local governments to secure the necessary approvals, guiding the smallholder producers through every step. The certifications, such as Rainforest Alliance, RSPO, FairTrade, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and other voluntary standards could increase sustainable farming practice and open new, profitable markets.
Through KoltiSkills, we bring a human dimension to the digital transformation in agriculture. Our Boots-on-the-Ground approach ensures that every actor in the supply chain is supported, every practice is verified, and every product is traceable. We don’t just talk about sustainability—we live it, ensuring that our practices benefit both the environment and the people who depend on it. This commitment to being present, accountable, and supportive at every step of the way positions KOLTIVA as a true thought leader in sustainable agriculture, driving change from the ground up.
Charting the Path to Expand Impact with a Long-Term Strategic Focus
Our journey has been one of transformation and impact, spanning over 11,579 enterprises and touching the lives of more than 1.5 million registered producers across 61 countries and 58 commodities.
In the context of agri-based product traceability, we are breaking new ground. By developing software that provides seed-to-table traceability, the company ensures that the journey from input materials, through farm operations and distribution, to the final consumer is transparent and traceable. This innovation helps large multinationals and enterprises trace the origin of their food supply, much of which comes from smallholder producers in Indonesia and other countries where KOLTIVA operates.
Our company’s relevance is also amplified by recent and strict regulations like the EU’s Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR), mandated by the European Council, which necessitates that companies prove the absence of deforestation in their products and adhere to specific legal standards. Consequently, over 50,000 EU-based businesses are now obligated to adhere to this regulation, and non-EU companies significantly engaged in EU activities must also ensure their compliance. Through our robust traceability platform, our solution is essential for industries like cocoa, coffee, rubber, palm oil and more.
As a trusted global partner for EUDR Compliance, we are thrilled to announce that we will be able to act as an Authorized Representative, where we can efficiently submit Due Diligence Statement (DDS) information on behalf of our clients. This ensures that businesses’ obligations under the EUDR are fulfilled efficiently and effectively.
With over 11 years of experience in sustainable agriculture and supply chain traceability across 61 countries, KOLTIVA aids businesses in meeting these regulatory requirements its groundbreaking EUDR Solutions, tailored for businesses and enterprises seeking EUDR compliance, which mandates rigorous due diligence. This process includes extensive data collection on product origins, including specific geolocation data, ensuring products are deforestation-free and compliant with local laws. Risk assessments consider factors like country risk levels and forest presence. Additionally, businesses are required to implement risk mitigation measures such as audits and supplier support. Finally, the regulation necessitates annual public reporting on due diligence systems and maintaining related documentation for at least five years.
The traceability tech platform, KoltiTrace MIS platform enables processors with Supply Chain Mapping and Risk Assessment, ensuring comprehensive producer compliance. It streamlines recording supply chain connections and offers expert field implementation support for businesses lacking resources. To ensure traceable transactions, it also verifies supply chain connections from plantations to processors, collaborates with local stakeholders (dealers, agents, collectors) to document traceability by registering transactions from mapped producers. It reviews transactional data to identify new and mapped producers within supply chains.
The Field Agent Business Support (FABS) supports training and monitoring at the dealer level to ensure proper implementation, compliance, risk mitigation, and transparency. Beside on that, remote sensing expertise in the traceability tech platform and Deforestation Maps can provide historical data on tree cover loss, enabling in-depth analysis and enhancing the accuracy of deforestation detection and monitoring. Risk Mitigation initiatives, such as personalized producers coaching and support in obtaining land legality also important. Through data-driven one-on-one coaching, it focuses on EUDR non-compliant or flagged producers, guiding farm development plans and accelerating the adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
Due diligence is integral to EUDR compliance, which the KoltiTrace platform streamlines by automatically generating due diligence statements for processors and their main suppliers. These tools provide evidence for compliance submissions, guaranteeing transparency and accountability across the supply chain.
Additionally, consider businesses worldwide that are eager to optimize their supply chain but constrained by limited internal resources, without the capacity to manage complex field operations, they turn and rely to KoltiSkills. Our experts step in, identifying inefficiencies and optimizing processes. Studies show that optimizing supply chains can reduce operational costs by up to 10% while also enhancing sustainability We don’t just offer a service; we become your strategic partner in achieving these gains, ensuring that every challenge is met with a solution.
Financial inclusion is another cornerstone of our future vision. We recognize that access to financial services is a game-changer, especially in rural communities. That’s why our responsible digital wallet solution is a key focus for the coming year. By helping businesses provide greater access to financial services and promoting financial literacy together with micro-financial institutions (MFI), we are empowering individuals and communities to take control of their economic futures by providing better financial inclusion in rural areas, including savings, cashless payments, pay later service, to the crop insurance.
Original Writer from Tech Collective: Editorial Team
Writer for KOLTIVA's website: Steven, Public Relations & Event Officer
Editor for KOLTIVA's website: Boby Hermawan Arifin, Head of Digital Marketing
About the writer:
Steven is a dynamic professional with a keen interest in the realm of public relations and event management. With his experiences orchestrating projects, public relations campaigns, and events, Steven brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the table. His assertive communication skills are a standout feature, allowing him to adeptly foster strong connections and cultivate meaningful relationships with both internal stakeholders and external partners.
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