Parent Brand/Product Palm Comments on the conversation

Company Oil?
Goodman Freya’s, Vogel’s, No Goodman Fielder does use palm oil in other products,
Fielder Mackenzie bread (Canola) namely its spreads: Meadowlea, Olivani and Sunrise
(Yes in margarines.
others)
George Weston Burgen, No George Weston Foods (NZ) Ltd. Does use palm oil in
Foods (NZ) Ltd. Ploughman’s (Canola) its Simply Organic range of breads.
bread
Called it “Palmoline”.
Bluebird Bluebird Potato Yes Me: “Is Bluebird concerned that the majority of palm
Chips oil is sourced from areas of South East Asia that have
recently and unsustainably been cleared of tropical
rainforests?”
Op “Bluebird sources its palm oil through RSPO.”
Me: “Is Bluebird concerned that the RSPO has been
unable to implement an effective auditing of its
suppliers’ oil sources?”
OP “The plantations are located on land which was
already degraded as rubber plantations.”
Me “And the oil plantations degrade that land even
further.”
Op “Yes.”
Me: “Is Cadbury concerned that the majority of palm
Cadbury Dairy Milk Yes oil is sourced from areas of South East Asia that have
Schweppes Chocolate recently and unsustainably been cleared of tropical
rainforests?”
Op: “Yes we are; we source our palm oil from RSPO
sources.”
Me: “Is Cadbury concerned that the RSPO has been
unable to implement an effective auditing of its
suppliers’ oil sources?”
Op: “I’m not sure about that, can I get someone to
contact you by email?”
(See email correspondence, Appendix 1.)
Me: “Does Nestle source its cocoa from fair trade
Nestle Kit-Kat Yes suppliers.”
Op: “Yes, we source all our cocoa and coffee from fair
trade suppliers.”
(There is nothing on www.nestle.com that
corroborates this claim.)

Me: “Does Whitakers source its cocoa from fair trade

Whitakers Chocolate No suppliers.”
Op: “I’m pretty sure.
Me: “You’re pretty sure or ‘yes’?”
Op: “I can get our production manager to call you.”
(See Appendix 2)
 Me: “Does Mars have a policy as to where it sources
Mars Mars Bar Yes its palm oil.”
Op: “A policy relating to what?”
Me: “Relating to the fact that the majority of palm oil
is sourced from areas of South East Asia that have
recently and unsustainably been cleared of tropical
rainforests.”
Op: “Not that I’m aware of.”
Left a message: “I’m calling to ask whether
Sanitarium Peanut Butter Sanitarium uses palm oil in any of its products and, if
it does, to ask if Sanitarium is concerned that the
majority of palm oil is sourced from areas of South
East Asia that have recently and unsustainably been
cleared of tropical rainforests.”
Message said they will call or email back.
Spoke to Op.
Kraft Peanut Butter Someone will call or email within 24hrs as to what oil
is used in Kraft peanut butter.

Eta Peanut Butter No Peanut oil used.

Fonterra Tip Top Ice No Fonterra uses palm oil in its Country Soft Blend (a
Cream butter/margarine blend).
Will email me regarding Fonterra policy with respect
to sourcing of palm oil.
Left two messages.
Arnotts Arnotts Shapes “Does Arnotts have a policy regarding the sourcing of
its palm oil?”
Will email me back.
Spoke to Op, they’ll get back to me regarding oil type.
Unilever Flora, Olivio Yes
(Unilever is a member of the RSOP and consumes
about 20% of palm oil produced globally, but… “Just
a couple of weeks ago, we found bulldozers belonging
to Sinar Mas clearing huge tracts near Jayapura in
Papua, and yet Sinar Mas is an RSPO member.”

..and a major supplier to Unilever. See

http://forest4climate.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/palm-
oil-its-covered-in-greenwash/ for more.
Appendix 1

Cadbury Ethical Trading Enquiry 1162766LT

2 messages
consumer.services.asia.pacific@cadbury.com Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at
<consumer.services.asia.pacific@cadbury.com> 3:07 PM
To: mattross2000@gmail.com
Dear Matt,

Thank you for your enquiry regarding our Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate.

Cadbury New Zealand can confirm that it has ensured that all the palm oil
purchased for its Cadbury Dairy Milk range is certified as sustainably
sourced.

Cadbury is a founding member of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil

(RSPO), and has been working since the RSPO’s creation to develop
sustainable sources of Palm Oil. The RSPO is a not-for-profit association
that includes representatives from both the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF)
and Oxfam International on its Board.

As a business we only use palm oil purchased from other audited and
approved members of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil.

For information regarding vegetable fat and palm oil please visit:

http://www.cadbury.co.nz/About-Cadbury/Consumer-Health-and-Ingredients/Palm-Oil.aspx

Thank you for also expressing your concern about the ethical sourcing of
our cocoa beans.

Cadbury shares your concerns. We have a long and honourable tradition of

working with cocoa producers to improve cocoa cultivation and marketing,
and strong human rights and ethical trading principles.

Recently we announced the establishment of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership to

secure the economic, social and environmental sustainability of around a
million cocoa farmers and their communities in Ghana, India, Indonesia and
the Caribbean. We are committing £44 million (close to AU$100 million) over
ten years to support farmers and their communities to help create a
sustainable cocoa industry, and improve labour conditions.

The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership will focus on

1. Improving cocoa farmer incomes by helping farmers increase their
yields and produce top quality beans.
2. Introducing new sources of rural income through microfinance and
business support to kick-start new rural businesses and introduce
additional income streams such as growing other crops.
3. Investing in community led development to improve life in cocoa
communities, eg supporting education through schools and libraries,
supporting the environment through biodiversity projects, and building
wells for clean, safe water.
4. Working in partnership: developing pioneering model which will be led
from the grassroots. Farmers, governments, NGOs and international agencies
will work together to decide how the funding is spent and work with local
organisations to turn plans into action.

In addition to the partnership, Cadbury will continue to support the cocoa

industry in addressing the causes of forced child labour. We recognise
that children working on family farms is part of the family tradition and
normal activity in some cultures, particularly at harvest time. However,
enforced or unsafe labour is unacceptable.

We are determined to end any abusive or unsafe labour by children in the

cocoa farms of West Africa. Cadbury has been working in partnership with
other industry members, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), West African
governments and international organisations to respond to these issues.
Cadbury and the global cocoa and chocolate industry have been playing an
active role in working to develop a long term solution.

The International Cocoa Initiative was established in 2002, and we are

represented on the Board. The global industry Harken- Engel Protocol sets
out a clear timetable for establishing a system of independent monitoring
and certification of working practices. The system was completed in July
2005 and is being rolled out in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. The aim was for
50% of cocoa farms from West Africa to be certified by 2008 and this was
achieved. Governments of both countries have publicly published
matt ross <mattross2000@gmail.com> Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 3:45 PM
To: consumer.services.asia.pacific@cadbury.com

Dear Laura,
The Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil has had considerable trouble ensuring that the producers from
which it sources its palm oil are supplying them with sustainably grown palm oil. Often a small
plantation achieves certification and is used as a vector by the producer to move the bulk of their oil
from their other plantations (which are not certified because they are located on burnt peat bogs which
used to be tropical rainforests, the conversion of which have resulted in a huge release of carbon
dioxide and an incalculable loss of biodiversity). The RSPO has acknowledged this shortcoming and
Cadbury must be aware of it too.
Cadbury chocolate tasted great before palm oil was used. Maybe it tastes better now; I wouldn't know
because I don't buy it now. Maybe Cadbury believes that the shift was "necessary" in order to maintain
or increase market share. But what is "necessary"? Rich people eating chocolate is not "necessary" by
most definitions. A viable biosphere is.
I know that at some level you agree with me. I can appreciate that you have your reasons for
defending and promoting the interests of a multinational corporation that seeks to maximise profit at
the expense of our planets and our children's future. I just don't think those reasons can be morally
justified.
Have a good weekend. : )
Sincerely,
Matt Ross

Appendix 2

The production manager (I think) from Whitakers called me back later day.
He said Whitakers doesn’t have Fair Trade certification because to achieve it they would have to source all
their ingredients from Fair Trade certified suppliers. He used the example of sugar which Whitakers
currently sources from Australia, where labour laws are sufficient to ensure that workers and suppliers are
guaranteed fair pay. If they were to shift to Fair Trade certified chocolate they would need to source their
products from Costa Rica or somewhere similarly distant.

He told me that Whitakers sources its cocoa from Ghana and is part of several initiatives that claim to aim
towards fair trade practices in cocoa production.
These include:

International Cocoa Initiative which is an industry funded group which includes some of the world’s
largest food multinationals and all the major chocolate producers. From their website:

The ICI is governed by a foundation board and its work is implemented and supervised by a secretariat based in
Geneva, Switzerland. The ICI is primarily funded by contributions from cocoa industry board members; however the
decisions on programme direction and emphasis are made by the board as a whole.

ICI’s membership is listed below:

Barry Callebaut, Cadbury Schweppes, Dignité (a trade union based in Cote d'Ivoire), Education International,
European Cocoa Association, Ferrero, Free the Slaves, Global March Against Child Labour, Hershey Foods,
International Confectionery Association, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), International Union of
Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations (IUF), Kraft Foods, Mars
Incorporated, Nestlé, US National Consumers League, WAO Afrique and Toms. Mr. P. Gillioz (Swiss Lawyer) is also
member of the ICI.

(That’s my underlining in the first paragraph.)

World Cocoa Foundation. Graduates of WCF-supported farmer field schools report income
improvements of 22–55 percent or more, through improved cultivation and marketing practices.