Confectionery giants make significant palm oil progress

Both The Hershey Company and Cadbury maker, Mondelez International, say they have made siginficant progress in their moves towards a sustainable supply chain for palm oil.

Mondelez has achieved Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) coverage for 100% of the palm oil it bought in 2013 – two years ahead of schedule.

“Achieving 100% RSPO is an important milestone toward our long-term commitment to only buy palm oil that’s produced on legally held land, doesn’t lead to deforestation or loss of peat land, respects human rights, including land rights, and doesn’t use forced or child labour,” said Dave Brown, vp of Global Commodities and Strategic Sourcing. “We recognize the need to go further, so we’ve also challenged our palm oil suppliers to provide transparency on the levels of traceability in their palm oil supply chains. Knowing the sources of palm oil supplies is an essential first step to enable scrutiny and promote improvements in practice on the ground.”

In the first months of this year, Mondelez International will review results from suppliers and publish an action plan during the second quarter 2014 to give priority to supplies that meet the company’s sustainability principles, and eliminate supplies that do not, by 2020 at the latest.

In addition to achieving its commitment to source 100% mass balanced RSPO certified palm oil more than a year ahead of its original 2015 commitment, The Hershey Company has annouced it will also work with its suppliers to achieve 100% traceable and sustainably sourced palm oil by the end of 2014.

“The Hershey Company is committed to continuous improvement and transparency in our sustainable sourcing efforts,” said Frank Day, Vice President of Global Commodities. “Our move to source 100 percent traceable palm oil is the latest step forward in our efforts to ensure we are sourcing only sustainably grown palm oil that does not contribute to the destruction of wildlife habitat or negatively impact the environment.”

While The Hershey Company is a smaller consumer in the palm oil market, the additional step of 100 % traceability will assure that the palm oil in its supply chain is produced using the most rigorous sustainability practices. To achieve this, suppliers will be required to independently verify that sources do not contribute to deforestation or the destruction of wildlife habitat; do not clear high carbon stock forests; do not contribute to peat land expansion; nor operate in compliance with local laws and regulations.

In November, Hershey’s palm oil sourcing efforts were recognized in the World Wildlife Fund’s 2013 Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard, where Hershey scored 10 out of a possible 12 points with 12 being the highest score.