Palm Oil

Indonesia bans palm oil exports, should food makers be worried?

28-Apr-2022 By Flora Southey

A shortage of palm oil in Indonesia’s domestic market has prompted a ban on exports. Will food and beverage makers be impacted?

Sustainability at the source: How Unilever is addressing deforestation, living wages, and regenerative agriculture

30-Sep-2021 By Flora Southey

How is Unilever ensuring sustainability in sourcing regions? Hanneke Faber, President Foods & Refreshment at Unilever, weighs in.

Waitrose looks beyond deforestation-free to ‘forest positive’ palm oil supply

09-Jul-2021 By Flora Southey

UK supermarket Waitrose & Partners is working to stamp out deforestation from its supply chains and is ‘early’ on its journey to becoming forest positive, according to John Lewis Partnership’s Ethics & Sustainability Manager Samuel Lee-Gammage.

Greenpeace slams certification schemes, inciting criticism: ‘The NGO is using palm oil as cannon-fodder to sway EU lawmakers’

12-Mar-2021 By Flora Southey

The environmental NGO says many certification schemes – covering palm, soy, and timber – enable ‘destructive business to continue as usual’. Palm Oil Monitor has fought back, questioning Greenpeace’s motives: ‘Make no mistake, this is an attack on palm...

UK proposes law to cut deforestation from big companies’ supply chains

25-Aug-2020 By Flora Southey

The UK is considering new legislation that would see larger businesses fined for using forest-risk commodities – such as palm oil, soy, and beef – that have not been produced according to relevant local laws.

Researchers warn against palm oil ban due to ‘large economic losses’ and risk of ‘even bigger environmental problems’

01-Jun-2020 By Flora Southey

Switching over to other vegetable oils would likely exacerbate issues surrounding palm oil production, according to a new study.

Mars corrects record on Forest 500 report: ‘We have not removed commitments to soy and palm’

12-Feb-2020 By Flora Southey

Mars, Inc. has responded to Global Canopy’s 2019 Forest 500 report, which stated the confectionery giant had removed deadlines from its traceability commitments on palm oil and soya.

Cradle-to-grave study answers ‘the big question’: What is the benefit of certified palm oil?

03-Dec-2019 By Flora Southey

Results of the first life cycle assessment (LCA) comparing certified and non-certified palm oil are in: RSPO-certified palm oil out performs non-certified for global warming and nature occupation.

RSPO chief on palm oil boycotts, brand responsibility, and the need to ‘rethink’ retail

14-Nov-2019 By Flora Southey

Retailers, brands, and their marketeers are ‘not doing enough’ to promote sustainably driven purchasing decisions in-store, RSPO CEO Datuk Darrel Webber tells FoodNavigator: “Sustainable products have to be front-and-centre to help consumers loosen their...

Greenpeace links fire hotspots with RSPO growers and members

11-Nov-2019 By Flora Southey

A report linking RSPO members and certified growers with this year’s fire hotspots in Indonesia has been published by Greenpeace International. According to the sustainable palm oil organisation, however, Greenpeace's analysis ‘misses the mark’.

How can industry prevent soy becoming a ‘demonised’ commodity like palm oil?

28-Jun-2019 By Flora Southey

The disastrous environmental effects of unsustainable palm oil production has ‘demonised’ the commodity for consumers. Is soy, which is similarly associated with deforestation, biodiversity loss and climate change, heading for the same fallout?

Start-up develops edible markers to prove sustainable sourcing

14-May-2019 By Flora Southey

IN-Code Technologies has developed invisible makers that can be used to combat illicit trade and prove the sustainable sourcing of food ingredients, such as palm oil, says CEO Joe Tilley.