Paterson's Wild About Oats
Palm Oil
Used in one in five supermarket products, palm oil is a cheap yet valuable commodity to the food industry. However, this industry is threatening the existence of indigenous rainforest and the people, creatures and plants that inhabit these vulnerable ecosystems.
Paterson Arran's managing director Alan Hardie, comments:
“The impact of the palm oil industry in South East Asia is causing untold damage to the indigenous rainforests in South East Asia. The UNEP estimates that the forests of Indonesia are being cleared at a rate of six football fields every minute of every day. As the natural habitat of species such as Orangutans and Sumatran tigers disappears, there is a very real threat that these animals will be extinct within the next five to ten years. This expansion in palm plantations also generates huge amounts of greenhouse gases with Indonesia becoming the third largest emitter after the US and China.
“Palm oil is found in one in five supermarket products including biscuits, and with demand largely driven by western countries, manufacturers and consumers have a responsibility to take immediate action by switching to palm oil free alternatives.
“Paterson Arran is aiming to be palm oil free and as a business we are fully committed to this goal. For over seven years we have concentrated our research and development programme on finding alternatives to palm oil without impacting on the quality and flavour of our products. As a result, approximately 70% of our branded output is palm oil free; our new product development programme is focused on delivering palm oil free products and this year alone we have launched a palm oil free Orangutangy’s snack product to help raise awareness.
“Whilst we have made great inroads with removing palm oil from our business, the process takes time. And, some of the changes are proving technically difficult. We only use a small amount of palm oil at Paterson Arran and where we do we will ensure that it is from wholly traceable and sustainable sources as these become available.
“Whilst there has been much work in the area of sustainable palm oil production with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) leading the way, the association does not include green house gas emissions standards in its certification criteria for sustainable palm oil. And the impact that deforestation is having on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions must be tackled.
“As of November 2009, we are signing up to the GreenPalm trading certificate scheme, which is designed to promote sustainable palm oil production. Whilst this doesn’t fully answer environmental questions raised in relation to greenhouse gas emissions caused by harvesting, we continue to monitor industry and environmental developments to ensure that we operate responsibly in our efforts to achieve a palm oil free position.”
For more information on the GreenPalm initiative, please visit www.greenpalm.org.
See below for news articles on this very important issue;
Daily Mail February 2010
BBC News Online February 2010
BBC News Online February 2010
The Independent February 2010
BBC News Online January 2010
BBC News Online December 2009
The Times December 2009
The Times December 2009
The Independent November 2009
The Times September 2009
The Indepedent May 2009
Scotland on Sunday July 2008
Telegraph July 2008
Telegraph May 2008
The China Post May 2008
Daily Mail April 2008
The Herald October 2007
BBC News Online August 2007
Guardian July 2007
Reuters May 2007
Guardian April 2007
Guardian March 2007
The Seattle Times March 2007
Daily Mail March 2007
The Indepedent May 2006
BBC News Online April 2006
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