We have also launched a multi-year research and development project under the guidance of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) on sustainability of organic bud palm oil with the project partners Bio Suisse and Max Havelaar.
In a first step, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture has evaluated eight different palm oil producers in Africa and South America in terms of sustainability with the help of a hotspot analysis. The analysis included Bio Suisse-certified, RSPO-certified and conventional producers. In the sustainability evaluation, Bio Suisse-certified palm oil producers scored considerably better than RSPO-certified of conventional producers. This result confirms our aim of continuing to switch to Bio bud palm oil for our food own-label brands.
In a next step, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture will set up a sourcing project with other partners. The goal is to build up a supply chain for Bio Suisse-certified palm oil from small-scale farmers in West Africa. The idea is to support the farmers not only in implementing Bio Suisse certification but also in optimizing their farming methods and implementing sustainability measures.