Cargill ‘On Track’ to Map 80% of Palm Oil to Mills This Year

Cargill says it’s on track to map 80 percent of its palm oil in key markets back to individual mills by the end of this year and 100 percent of all mills by December 2015, according to the company’s first progress report on sustainable palm oil.

The report lays out the company’s plan to achieve a fully sustainable supply chain.

Cargill committed to sustainable, deforestation-free, socially responsible palm oil in its palm oil policy, launched in July 2014, and repeated that pledge at the UN Climate Summit in New York City in September. Regular progress reports are part of the commitments made in the new policy.

Other report highlights include:

• The company says it will formulate action plans with its suppliers and help them apply best practices, continue to help smallholders integrate into responsible supply chain arrangements, and focus on getting things right the first time in new plantation developments.
• Cargill signed the Indonesian Palm Oil pledge at the 2014 UN Climate Summit.
• With the The Forest Trust, Cargill carried out a study to identify high carbon stock forest tracts at its PT Hindoli plantation in Indonesia, using the methodology, developed by TFT and Greenpeace. With help from the NGO Proforest, the company says it will repeat the study at three suppliers’ plantations over the next year.
• Cargill will pilot the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and solar-powered, satellite-connected remote sensor networks to monitor land use in Indonesia.
• The company is putting in place a formal grievance process to address issues in the supply chain. It will use third party verification where required and report on our progress regularly. Based on what it learns, it will adapt and improve continuously and publish its actions on a regular basis.

Unilever also released its first sustainable palm oil progress report this week and says 100 percent of palm oil sourced for Unilever’s European foods business will be traceable and certified sustainable by the end of 2014.