Unilever products is one of the two biggest buyers of palm oil world wide. The company has made a commitment to use 100% sustainable palm oil in its products by 2015. It is also a founding member of the RSPO.
Proctor & Gamble is the second major buyer of palm oil world wide. We have not been able to locate a company policy on the issue of sustainable palm oil. Any information we have seen has indicated they buy all their palm oil through FELDA and this company has not issued a posted statement on sustainable palm oil.
New Britain Palm Oil, a Papua New Guinea based producer, with a processing plant scheduled for March 2010 opening in the UK in order to process its sustainably grown palm into identity preserved sustainable palm oil. Annual production is expected to be 120,000 tonnes, which is only a fraction of the 40 million tonnes that is used annually worldwide
Other groups of Interest
SGS is an international company that works as a third-party quality controller and issues certificates under its banner, SGS. For palm oil, it issues a sustainable palm oil certificate based on the same policies as the RSPO.
Greenpalm sells “certificates” for sustainable palm oil. What this means is that the company supports sustainable palm oil plantations and part of the fees it charges are paid to the growers as an incentive to grow more sustainable palm oil. Where this fails is that by the time the product reaches the market in its final form, the sustainable palm oil has been mixed in with regular palm oil supplies and yet the product using the ingredient qualifies to make the claim that it “Supports Sustainable Palm Oil.”
Daabon Organic is a vertical producer of palm oil with its plantations in
Columbia. The company presently supplies palm oil for the food industries.
AgroPalma is a vertical producer or palm oil in
Brazil. It appears to have sound socio/environmental policies and processes.
UTZ Certified issues certificates for sustainable palm oil through a tracing format. Working with RSPO members only, the company issues certificates through two systems, a Mass Balanced model which the company admits has the same failings as that as Greenpalm, and its segregated model, which traces sustainability to the final refinery.
Brands/retailers policies
We are contacting manufacturers/retailers selling products with palm oil to gather information about company policies on sourcing.
We will also note brands that have elected to eliminate palm oil from products for ethical reasons.
It is our hope that the information we gather will help consumers make better choices as well as exert pressure on manfacturers and retailers to either work towards purchasing sustainable palm oil or to eliminate the ingredient altogether.
BRANDS/RETAILERS WE HAVE CONTACTED/RESEARCHED, AND THEIR RESPONSES
CADBURY This company does not seem to have a corporate policy/statement on palm oil. In a reply to us, consumer relations merely pleaded that they don't use that much and what little they use comes from RSPO members only.
CLIF BARS Sources from suppliers that are either members of the RSPO or are applying for membership.
EARTH BALANCE Response did not address the issue of sustainable palm. "We purchase our oil from reputable, law-abiding plantations that are registered with their respective national governments."
ECOVER Online statement states that does not know source of surfactants made from palm oil as it is "impossible to trace the raw material from its origins and through all the refining processes."
HOLLANDIA BAKERIES LIMITED Cookies are manufactured using a palm oil free shortening with the exception of one cookie brand, i.e., The Rainbow Chip/Buds cookie.
LATE JULY SNACKS Responded that they use only Colombian source palm oil.
METHOD Online statement that it sources from RSPO members and that the company is looking at sourcing sustainable palm oil from the Americas.
MARS BARS In its online statement, pledges to use only sustainable palm oil by 2015.
NATURES PATH Replied that they source certified organic palm oil from a plantation in Brazil currently in final stages of RSPO certification. See above for RSPO info. Supplier has reforested 185,000 acres of previously cultivated land. IBD certification.
NEWMAN'S OWN Responded that they use only Colombian source palm oil.
PAMELA'S PRODUCTS Responded that it sources from Daabon Organics based on Columbia. Farms have been certified by S.A. 8000, Eco-Cert, Pro-forest and Bio-Suisse.
SEVENTH GENERATION Online statement that the company is purchasing sustainable palm kernel oil production credits. Presently buys through Greenpalm and claimed that due to their small volume, there was no way to track and trace their supply. We have sent them the information from UTZ for their own follow-up.
SILK (WHITE WAVE) Sources from two suppliers who are members of RSPO. See descripton of RSPO above.
SPECTRUM ORGANICS Response from Hain-Celestiral that they use small-scale organic farms in Columbia. Inspected by QAI (Quality Assurance International). Sources from Daabon Organics and has a statement on its website. Click here to read.
WHOLE FOODS MARKET Pledges to sustainable palm oil through Institute for Marketecology (IMO).Read more here. Daabon also mentions supplying WFM with product but we see no mention of Colombian palm oil in WFM's pledge.
BRANDS/RETAILERS WE HAVE CONTACTED AND ARE WAITING FOR REPONSES
Biovert Endangered Species Chocolate Enjoy Life Green and Black's Chocolate Marantha Nut Butters
Nature Clean
Loblaws
Metro Supermarkets Shopper's Drug Mart Walmart
Brands that have switched soap production to palm oil free
Lush Cosmetics Wash your hands of palm oil (read the full Lush Cosmetics statement on palm oil) "LUSH North America has now switched all of its soap production to this new palm-free base, and we are also using palm-free glycerin. Our end goal is to remove palm oil from all of our products, and we are currently investigating our surfactants which might be palm oil derived. Here at LUSH we understand that if the rainforests have any chance of surviving, retailers are going to have stop putting palm oil into their products."
Sultry Suds Sultry Suds bar soaps are now greener than ever (click to read more) "We have worked hard over the last year to develop a formula that offers the same skin-soothing properties without compromising the environment. The result is a soap that is more environmentally friendly, more moisturizing and more luxurious!"
