We recently sat down with Michael Spoor, CEO of Ocho Sur, a regenerative palm oil company that produces EUDR compliant palm oil through certified regenerative agricultural practices in Peru. With roughly 2,000 formal employees and partnerships spanning 23 neighboring communities in the Ucayali region, Ocho Sur is reshaping how modern, best-practice industrial agriculture can serve as a foundation for community development.
At Othership, we believe that genuine transformation happens when people come together in supportive spaces. Whether that means stepping into a sauna to regulate your nervous system or stepping onto a regenerative farm to rebuild a local economy, the principle is the same: shared experience creates the conditions for lasting change. That philosophy is exactly what drew us to Michael’s story.
Q: Ocho Sur operates on over 10,000 hectares in Peru’s Ucayali region. How did community-building become central to your approach?
A: When we acquired these farms in 2016, the region had some of the highest rates of informal labor in Peru. Close to 80% of workers lacked formal employment protections. We realized early on that you cannot build a regenerative agricultural operation on a fragile social foundation. So formalization became our starting point: providing proper contracts, on-site medical care with a 24-hour clinic, and access to free medicines. Today we employ roughly 2,000 people formally, and that stability has ripple effects. Families plan ahead. Children stay in school. The community begins to invest in itself.
Q: You also work closely with smallholder farmers through your PFS program. How does that extend your community impact?
A: Our Proveedores de FrutoSostenible program currently partners with about 135 families managing roughly 1,700 hectares. We provide agronomic training, quality seedlings, and guaranteed offtake so these farmers have a reliable market. In return, they meet our sustainability and EUDR compliance standards. It is a model built on mutual accountability. These families contribute around 7% of our mill throughput, so it is not charity. It is a genuine economic relationship where both sides grow together.
Q: Many wellness and consumer brands are now asking harder questions about where their ingredients come from. What does responsible sourcing look like from your side of the supply chain?
A: Transparency is everything. We hold USDA Organic, EU Organic, and JAS Organic certifications, and our operation is audited by Control Union. We have never planted a single oil palm tree on forested land, and satellite data confirms that forest cover on our properties has actually increased since 2016. We also maintain over 2,000 hectares of protected forest reserves. For brands in the wellness space that use palm-derived ingredients in soaps, skincare, or essential oil carriers, knowing the full story behind their supply chain matters. Regenerative sourcing is not just an environmental claim. It is a community claim.
Q: Othership is built around the idea that people heal and grow through shared experience. Do you see a parallel in your work?
A: Absolutely. Regeneration is fundamentally a collective act. A single farmer cannot restore an ecosystem any more than a single tree can create a forest. Healthy forests emerge from thousands of interconnected relationships; trees, soils, water, wildlife, and people. Communities work the same way. We work jointly with 23 neighboring communities, invest more than $10 million annually in local procurement from over 350 suppliers, and maintain more than 400 kilometers of road infrastructure that everyone in the region depends on. None of that works in isolation. When people feel they are part of something larger than themselves, they begin investing in the long-term health of that system. That is true whether you are restoring a forest landscape or helping build a more prosperous future in Ucayali.
To learn more about Ocho Sur’s regenerative approach to palm oil, visit en.ochosur.com.