Cargill Supports Unilever's Drive to Use Sustainable Palm Oil

Source: Cargill, Inc., 29/07/2010

29 July 2010 — Cargill has entered into a supply agreement to provide Unilever's European operations with 10,000 metric tonnes of segregated refined palm oil, certified by the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

This means that the oil will have been certified as sustainable, having been segregated at every step in the supply chain. Cargill’s new offering will strengthen its ability to provide sustainable palm oil products to meet customers’ requirements and will complement its existing certified RSPO Mass Balance palm oil offering.

“Our agreement with Unilever is the result of both companies’ strong commitment to supporting responsible supply chains”, said Paul Naar, head of Cargill’s food businesses in Europe. “As the demand for certified sustainable palm oil continues to grow, we are combining our supply chain expertise and industry knowledge to provide customers with choices to meet their particular requirements. We are very pleased to partner with Unilever and see this as a big step forward in the drive towards palm oil sustainability.”

"Unilever is ahead of plan to achieving 100 percent sustainable palm oil by 2015 with over 35 percent already being RSPO certified this year", said Marc Engel, Chief Procurement Officer at Unilever. "Today's announcement marks another important milestone in our journey to 100 percent sustainable palm oil, as Cargill's physically segregated certified oil will be delivered in our factories and used in our products. We are very pleased that Cargill, as one of our strategic partners, is sharing our vision on sustainable palm oil and enabling this for us."

Cargill’s offering of fully segregated refined palm oil follows the RSPO certification of the company’s European and Malaysian oil refineries. PT. Hindoli in Sumatra, Indonesia received its RSPO certification in February 2009 and Cargill is currently working to certify its other palm plantation in Indonesia, Harapan Sawit Lestari. Cargill fully supports the RSPO process to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil throughout the supply chain. The company has set a goal of buying 60 percent of its total crude palm oil from RSPO members by the end of 2010. It is encouraging its third-party suppliers to join RSPO and attain certification and its eventual goal is to have a 100 percent RSPO certified supply chain.

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