The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has announced that the leading retailers in the UK have achieved the target, to source 100% RSPO-certified, sustainable palm oil by 2015 - across a range of private label foods, household goods and cosmetics.
An environmental initiative, titled, 'A Better Retail Climate', instigated by the BRC, had provided the retailers with a number of voluntary goals to help improve the sustainability of their operations.
As palm oil is used in a wide range of products, the high demand for the ingredient encourages a continued expansion of palm oil plantations, which poses a threat to the natural environment in general and rainforests in particular.
Andrew Opie, BRC Director of Food and Sustainability, commented: “As an industry, we are very proud of the leadership we have shown in working towards 100% sustainable sourcing of our palm oil. We know this is important to our customers (...) and we would encourage other parts of the supply chain to follow the retailers’ positive lead”.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Martha Sparrius. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
