18 March 2010 | Allie Anderson
Nestlé is to ramp up the investigation of its palm oil supply chain after a Greenpeace report claimed some of the oil purchased by the Swiss confectioner is from unsustainable sources.
In a statement yesterday, Nestlé vowed to take “all feasible steps to impact our suppliers to assure that we don’t buy palm oil which contributes to deforestation”. The move follows its commitment to purchase palm oil only from certified sources by 2015.
“As a part of this commitment, we have accelerated the investigation of our palm oil supply chain to identify any palm oil source which does not meet our high standards for sustainability,” the statement said.
Nestlé also confirmed that it has replaced Indonesian firm Sinar Mas as a direct supplier of palm oil. Unilever also suspended purchases from the vendor last year, until it could provide “verifiable proof” that none of its palm oil plantations are contributing to the destruction of forests.
The Nestlé announcement came in response to claims by activists Greenpeace identifying Sinar Mas as guilty of mass deforestation in its production of palm oil.
Its report, Caught Red Handed, said deforestation caused by the production of palm oil is the biggest threat to the orangutan.
