Unilever has said all the palm oil it uses will be bought will be traceable to known sources by the end of next year.
The Flora spreads and Wall’s ice cream manufacturer had set a commitment for the palm oil to be traceable and certified by 2020.
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The 2020 pledge on certified palm oil will remain, the company confirmed to just-food today (13 November).
With the 2014 commitment on traceability, Unilever is giving more clarity on its palm oil strategy. Furthermore, once it can identify where the palm oil it uses comes from, the company can then stop using batches of the ingredient that come from sources deemed unsustainable.
The company claimed the fresh announcement was a “significant move” in its bid to “accelerate market transformation to sustainable palm oil”.
Chief procurement officer Marc Engel said: “Market transformation can only happen if everyone involved takes responsibility and is held accountable for driving a sustainability agenda. Our progress has been made possible by the commitment and efforts of a number of our strategic suppliers.”
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By GlobalDataUnilever said it uses around 3% of the plam oil produced globally, in products including spreads, ice cream and shampoo.
The move was welcomed by campaigners at the WWF. Richard Holland, director of WWF’s market transformation initiative, said Unilever’s commitment was “a very promising step” in efforts to turn the market to sustainable palm oil.
“Unilever’s role and actions have been instrumental on this journey so far. They helped us establish the RSPO in 2004 and have been closely involved in its development into a credible institution and standard. But, as importantly, Unilever has also matched its commitment with action on buying RSPO certified sustainable palm oil,” Holland said. “We urge other companies along the palm oil value chain to follow the lead shown by Unilever.”
