Australian companies are buying more certified sustainable palm oil than ever before, according to an assessment of palm oil buyers by multi-national conservation group, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The WWF today released its Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard 2011, which measures over 130 major retailers and consumer goods manufacturers by looking at their commitment to, and use of, palm oil certified to the internationally recognised standards of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Palm oil is... ...Read more »

Cargill has pledged that the palm oil products it supplies in markets including Europe and the US will be certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) or originate from smallholder growers by 2015.The US agribusiness said the commitment also covered customers in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It added that the pledge would be extended across all of Cargill’s oil and trading businesses to cover 100% of its palm oil products and all customers worldwide, including China and India,... ...Read more »

Kellogg Company announced last week that it is helping fund sustainable palm oil production through purchasing GreenPalm certificates covering 100 percent of its global palm oil use. Today, GreenPalm estimates that only six percent of the current global supply of palm oil is sustainably grown. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) continues to work toward the development of a consistent and sufficient supply of segregated, sustainably grown palm oil, however, it is currently not available... ...Read more »

Woolworths today put out a request for information to all suppliers and importers of palm oil in Australia, in an attempt to assess the availability of sustainable palm oil. The supermarket chain aims to use only palm oil certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in its private label products by 2015, a target set in March last year, and the supermarket became the first Australian retail member of the RSPO in September. Woolworths said that while deforestation and threatened habitats... ...Read more »

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has become Australia’s first industry association to gain membership to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the world’s leading not-for-profit organisation supporting sustainable use and production of palm oil.The RSPO was established by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), industry stakeholders and NGOs in 2004. The industry-led association – with more than 400 members worldwide – has established a rigorous set of principles... ...Read more »

Mandatory labelling of food products in Australia that contain palm oil would open the “floodgates” of requests from activist groups on a wide range of issues not related to the contents or safety of a product, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) said today. AFGC highlighted that activist groups are now using food labels as a battleground for issues as diverse as deforestation, animal welfare and human rights. Food labels should only be used to highlight important product information... ...Read more »