‘They’d never do it’: Why food manufacturers won’t shoulder palm oil sustainability costs There is little chance of food manufacturers covering the costs of palm oil sustainability efforts, despite new research saying it would require just a 2% increase in prices, according to an industry expert.
A recent report released by commodity risk analysis institution Chain Reaction Research revealed that palm oil-related sustainability efforts could be paid for by FMCG companies with a less than 2% increase in product prices – e.g. a US$0.06 increase on a US$3 chocolate bar.
“The overall value generated [for products using palm oil] stood at US$68.5bn in 2019/2020 for the FMCG sector alone, whereas the annual costs of producing ‘sustainable’ palm oil have been calculated to be just some US$6bn per year,” said the report authors.
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Determining which products and foods are “good” and those that are not is not always simple. Many seemingly good products are secretly harming our animal friends and the environment more than most people are aware. Here are some of them:
1. Palm Oil
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This video of an orangutan climbing a tree and through the bush, trying to escape a clear-cutting crane, demonstrates the heartbreaking reality of palm oil production. It is difficult to watch, knowing that so many of us are contributing to this habitat loss, but I strongly encourage you to watch it.
Habitat:
Notes:
Please do your part to protect orangutans and choose to buy products that use only Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO).
Some quick facts about Non-Sustainable Palm Oil (a.k.a. Conflict Palm Oil):
- Conflict palm oil is the primary threat that is currently endangering wild orangutan populations.
- Approximately 50,000 orangutans have died because of deforestation due to palm oil in the last two decades
- Conflict palm oil is found is approximately half of packaged products (including food items, shampoos, lipsticks, and more!) sold in grocery stores in the US
- Conflict palm oil is used for food products, detergents, cosmetics and biofuel