04/03/2011 (Trader Business Media) - Woolworths has lodged a request for information (RFI) to all suppliers and importers of palm oil in Australia.

The retail giant is investigating the palm oil supply chain to ascertain the availability of sustainable palm oil certified by not-for-profit organisation the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
 
Woolworths aims to only use RSPO certified sustainable palm oil in its private label products by 2015.
 
In March 2010, Woolworths became the first Australian retailer to set a timeframe for the transition to certified sustainable palm oil in its private label products and, in September 2010, became the first Australian retail member of the RSPO.
 
Corporate Responsibility Group Manager Armineh Mardirossian says Woolworths is serious about its commitment to using only RSPO in private label products by 2015.

“The purpose of the RFI is to assess the current supply levels available in Australia, as we know that only about 7 percent of the global palm oil supply is RSPO certified,” Mardirossian says.

“This means we have the opportunity to drive market transformation, but we recognise that this change needs to be managed in a responsible way.”
 
“We need to inform its private label manufacturers about the availability of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) in the Australian market.” 

According to RSPO, increasing global demand for palm oil is being attributed to continued deforestation, particularly in Southeast Asia, and threatening the survival of its native animals, such as Orang-utans.
 
“But the fact remains that palm oil is an efficient crop, which yields up to ten times more than other crops such as soya beans,” an RSPO spokesperson says.

“With 5 percent of the world’s vegetable-oil farmland producing 38 percent output] any substitute would require more land.”

Woolworths is inviting feedback from all CSPO suppliers and importers to Australia to join the research effort.
 
“We want the whole market to get involved and be a part of this process,” Mardirossian says.
“It is important to get a clear picture of what is available in Australia and where in the supply chain capacity building is required.

“This has not been done yet and is a critical step in assessing what the industry as a whole needs to do to in order to transition to CSPO as soon as practical,” he says.