Sustainable palm oil
How we took on the challenge to convince our
suppliers of the need to adopt sustainable palm oil
How we took on this challenge
Over 99% of the palm oil we use in Europe is certified sustainable palm oil (and > 95% certified segregated palm oil). Our biggest challenge has been to convince Group suppliers of the need to adopt sustainable palm oil and create this change without a loss of functionality.
The first step is to convince our suppliers to adopt sustainable palm oil practices. Zeelandia aims to use only certified sustainable palm oil, which ensures that the certified palm oil is separated from non-sustainable sources throughout the supply chain. Physically is only by the use of the RSPO SG model. This requires converting our ingredients with suppliers a process that took years and included rigorous testing to ensure that the new ingredients were just as effective as their non-sustainable counterparts.
Find out how we took on this challenge in our case study, published by WWF to palm oil scorecard.
Find out here
Our ambition
Our objective is to realize a transfer to purchasing only ingredients and/or products that entail 100% certified Segregated sustainable palm oil.
This is complemented with certified Mass-Balance sustainable palm oil when Segregated sustainable palm oil is not possible, and depends on local availability.
In 2021 we will enlarge our scope of activities to the Zeelandia companies outside Europe. In cooperation with the Zeelandia operating companies involved, we will investigate local conversion to Segregated palm oil.
Secondly, we will promote more transparency in our palm oil supply chain and urge our suppliers to play an active role.
Thirdly, we aim to support a project that helps local communities and smallholder producers adopt more sustainable practices.
Our belief
We believe that palm oil is to be produced in a manner that is legally compliant and traceable, protects forests and biodiversity, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and respects the rights of indigenous people, workers, and local communities. That is why we proactively participate in the Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard and are a member of RSPO since 2015.
