Manufacturers are slow to embrace sustainable palm

Manufacturers should back up commitments about sustainable palm oil with concrete action, the boss of GreenPalm has argued.

No major UK food manufacturer has purchased GreenPalm certificates despite the fact they have been available since last autumn. And while fully traceable, identity preserved palm oil is also now available, there have been no UK takers for that either, which means supplier AAK may have to dump it on the market. What was needed now was action, said GreenPalm general manager Bob Norman: "We urge manufacturers to calculate their use and purchase certificates accordingly."

GreenPalm aims to drive up sustainable palm oil production without incurring the costs of segregated supply chains and full traceability. Under the scheme, manufacturers can purchase certificates guaranteeing that a tonnage equivalent to the tonnage they use has been produced from sustainable sources.

Plantations are allocated one certificate for every sustainably produced tonne of oil. These are being traded at www.greenpalm.org at about $35, a far cheaper option than purchasing fully traceable sustainable oil directly.

However, in the absence of clear direction from retailers, many manufacturers had failed to act, claimed AAK UK.

Asda has not asked suppliers to use GreenPalm, but said it won't accept oil from Borneo or Sumatra in own-label products - something industry sources claim is not practically feasible given the way the palm supply chain currently works.

The Co-op Group said it was exploring its options, while Waitrose was "considering" GreenPalm as an interim step towards its long-term goal of sourcing fully traceable sustainable oil. The other retailers declined to comment.