The Edge Malaysia (03/11/2025) - KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 3): Some members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) continue to market products with “No Palm Oil” labels despite professing support for sustainable palm oil, said Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) chairman Datuk Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha.

This, he said, contradicts the purpose of certified sustainable palm oil and gives the wrong impression that palm oil is harmful.

"There are brands that sit with us at the same table that claim to believe in sustainable palm oil, yet proudly sell products that say 'No Palm Oil'. What message does that send to consumers? What does it say about partnership? If we are truly partners, then our advocacy must match our membership. Our words must match our actions," said Mohamad Helmy.

Speaking at the annual roundtable conference on sustainable palm oil organised by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Mohamad Helmy said, "We cannot preach sustainability in this room but reinforce the old rhetoric that palm oil is bad. Make no mistake, when you advertise the absence of palm oil, what you are saying is, 'This product is good because there is no palm oil in it.'"

The RSPO has over 6,000 members across the palm oil supply chain, including growers, traders, processors, manufacturers, retailers, non-governmental organisations and smallholders, according to its website.

“To believe in certified sustainable palm oil is to defend it — consistently, publicly and without apology," said Mohamad Helmy, who is also the group managing director of SD Guthrie Bhd (KL:SDG). If you are a global brand, you can't hide by claiming your business in Spain is run independently from the one in Malaysia. Just like Guthrie cannot say our business in South Africa is independent from our business in the Solomon Islands when it comes to sustainability.”

The MPOB chairman also stressed that removing oil palm would worsen deforestation and hurt smallholders, as other crops would need more land to meet global vegetable oil demand.

“We all know that if every hectare of oil palm plantation in the world were returned to forest, the world would be much worse off. Deforestation would increase as less efficient replacement crops are planted to meet global vegetable oil demand. Socioeconomic challenges will befall thousands of smallholders and small companies in the producer countries, as they turn towards less financially rewarding crops,” he said.

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