Last week, Dutch palm oil traders and users pledged collectively to switch to 100% RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil in 2015, making Holland the first to make such a commitment as a country.
“We will work very hard to ensure that by the end of 2015, all palm oil used in the Netherlands will be purchased in accordance with one of the trading systems approved by the RSPO,” said Frans Claassen, Director of Dutch Product Board MVO, on behalf of a new Task Force that unites most players in the Dutch refining, food manufacturing and feed industries.
In The Hague, the Task Force presented a Manifesto to the Dutch Minister of Agriculture and Foreign Trade to mark its newly made commitment.
German palm oil market players are warming up to sustainable palm oil as well, witness a packed seminar held last week in Neuss, near Düsseldorf. One hundred participants, mostly from European food industry, heard presentations from the REWE Group, Unilever, WWF Germany, Oxfam International and IOI-Loders Croklaan Europe, among others.
“Palm has the potential to become the world's most sustainable crop," said Marc den Hartog, Sales & Marketing Director at IOI-Loders Croklaan. "The RSPO is the best way forward to ensure sustainable palm oil production.”
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