25/11/2011 (International Supermarket News) - Upmarket retailer Waitrose has been awarded 100% (nine out of nine) by the WWF, for its commitment to the sourcing of sustainable palm oil. As cited by the WWF, the retailer has the “most challenging palm oil commitments”:

■100% of the palm oil in Waitrose products certified as sustainable (CSPO) by December 2012.
■68% so far achieved (fully certified sustainable palm oil). And the remainder covered by Greenpalm certificates in the mean-time – while Waitrose works through the conversion to fully certified oil.
■Waitrose is committed to transparent labelling and always labels palm oil as ‘palm oil’ in its ingredients list – never ‘vegetable oil’ or similar.

The senior technologist at Waitrose, responsible for the retailer’s implementation of its palm oil strategy, said that “We realise just how important it is that we move our palm oil supply to a more sustainable framework and have been working for a number of years to reach our challenging commitments – we’re really pleased our work has been recognised in this way by WWF.”

The praise by the WWF follows additional accolades for Waitrose from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which announced last month that there had been a surge in the uptake of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil, and cited Waitrose as a “good example” of such strong commitments.