Brands must weigh in and help change palm oil production

Sourcing controversies are nothing new.

And neither are protests and misgivings about the palm oil industry, which date back as far as the early 1990s.

Now, after a period of relative calm, the sector is once again back in the headlines.

In September, sustainable palm oil certifier RSPO had to defend its standards after Greenpeace blockaded the third-largest trader certified by the scheme over allegations of destroying forests, human rights abuses and exploitation.

In November, Kellogg’s, Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Reckitt Benckiser and Nestlé were accused by Amnesty International of using palm oil produced by children in dangerous conditions. And this week, palm oil producer Olam International was forced to defend the sustainability of its operations after allegations it was “putting forests in Southeast Asia and Gabon at risk”.

These scandals have prompted calls for tougher action against the sector, and mounting calls for widespread boycotts of products containing palm oil. In a column in this week’s Grocer, Joanna Blythman calls on consumers and food companies to abandon the “dirtiest ingredient on our shelves”.

But are boycotts really the most effective course of action? I am not convinced.

There is no doubt palm oil supply chains deserve the scrutiny they get, and poor ethical standards and environmental practices are rightly exposed. But just as I argued in relation to the Ferrero Kinder Egg scandal last month, the onus should be on brands to work with suppliers to improve standards – not abandon them for fear of bad publicity.

This is particularly true of an ingredient as ubiquitous as palm oil. Globally, we will have produced about 65 million tonnes of palm oil this year. It goes into ice cream, pizza dough, instant noodles, chocolate, shampoo, cookies, soap – even lipstick. And that’s not the end of the list. Margarine, detergent and packaged bread all contain palm oil too.

So, unless someone is going to dream up a super sustainable alternative ingredient that can keep chocolate from melting and produce biofuel in the next couple of weeks, we’re going to need those 65 million tonnes next year as well – at least. While small brands may be able to get palm oil out of their supply chains (at a cost), having all of fmcg walk away from it simply isn’t an option.

Palm oil will remain a key ingredient in many products, like it or not. Instead of dreaming of a future without palm oils, brands have to hold their noses, get their hands dirty and do the difficult – but important – work of working with their palm oil suppliers to drive small, incremental improvements on the ground.