Nestlé loses palm oil quality seal – News Business: Companies

Nestle is under the constant surveillance of ecologists for palm oil. Time and time again, claims are made, the world's largest food company is responsible for the loss of the latest tropical rainforests in the growing countries of Malaysia and Indonesia. That Nestle has now stolen surprisingly from the controversial industry's main control panel, so should be water on the mills of his critics. After all, the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil, RSPO for short, is considered the most important self-regulatory body in the industry. For consumers, the seal promises raw materials from a clean culture.

Palm oil is both a blessing and a curse for businesses and the industry. No other oil is as cheap and versatile, not only in foods like pizza and chocolate, but also for soap, detergents and biofuels. No other oil is also controversial at the same time because it is associated with the loss of the latest rainforests, social conflict and corruption.

Nestle has its own rules

Nestle claims to hold almost one percent of the world's palm oil production – a good 420,000 tons a year. Dramatic picture montages like that of a Kitkat chocolate bar that splits the trees of the huge rainforest are not forgotten. The Greenpeace campaign calling for a boycott in 2010 damaged the group's image. Nestle then promised an improvement

And now this expulsion. At first glance, everything seems clear: Nestlé has once again messed up. But the second glance clearly shows that there is a lot of calculation behind this – and that's on the part of Nestle. Behind the scenes, it scolds. A dispute that also casts a bad light on the RSPO Sustainability Circle, founded in 2004 by plantation operators, traders and industrial customers. Officially, the Round Table justified the withdrawal of membership by stating that Nestlé had violated its reporting obligations and had not paid the 2000 euro fee. , A misunderstanding? Probably not. A spokesman for Nestlé clearly explains what it is: "We thought the current RSPO standard was in conflict with the higher standards we demand from our suppliers and the supply chain."

Credibility problem

Or to put it another way: Nestlé's RSPO rules are too lax. The company tightened its internal requirements following the Greenpeace campaign and reviewed them by The Forest Trust. The expulsion is probably not embarrassing Nestle, he spared the exit. But it should also be clear that the RSPO Council without the group – after all a founding member – is weakened. Other companies could also opt out. The panel did not want to comment on request.

It is clear that the entire palm oil industry still has a problem of credibility. And this is not just a problem for Nestle, but also for many other customers, including well-known companies such as Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Mars, Unilever and Procter & Gamble.

This is also confirmed by the current report of the environmental protection organization Eyes on the Forest. It exposes the trade flows of the industry in every detail – with sobering results. Some great traders, sitting around the round table and decorating their seals, secretly procure a portion of their property in strictly protected nature reserves. Critics have been accusing the council for a while that its rules are too weak. Rule breaks would be insufficiently punished.

"If everyone makes their own commitments, it's hard to control." Ilka Petersen, WWF

Nestle also read the environmentalists' report. One of the offending resellers also provides the group. Willmar International is the largest processor and distributor of palm oil. "We welcome the information that Eyes on the Forest sends us," says Nestlé. Work with many partners to drive change in the palm oil industry.

The fact that Nestlé follows its own rules is criticized by environmentalists. "If everyone makes their own commitments, it's hard to control," says WWF's Ilka Petersen. She defends the round table. The rules are transparent and the certification is controlled by the TÜV. But: The RSPO is a minimum standard, with which there is air.

(Tages-Anzeiger)

Created: 08.07.2018, 18:48