Sustainable palm oil for Europe

Olenex CV, a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and Wilmar International Limited (Wilmar), and New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL) have announced an agreement to supply ADM and Wilmar with fully traceable, certified sustainable palm oil from NBPOL’s Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified plantations.

The agreement between Olenex’s parent companies and NBPOL includes the supply of certified sustainable palm oil from NBPOL to Wilmar’s Brake facility in Germany, as well as the supply of certified sustainable palm oil from NBPOL’s refinery in Liverpool, UK to ADM’s Pura Food Ltd. operations in London.  The oil production from these facilities, as well as from ADM’s operations in Hamburg, will be marketed and sold by Olenex throughout Europe.

The agreement is pioneering in the industry, ensuring unprecedented supply chain cooperation and offering the widest range of palm oil fractions and locations in Europe to date. The European market will benefit from the significant increase in availability of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil fractions and derivatives, the shortage of which has been blamed for the limited adoption of sustainable palm oil in the past.

The total European palm oil market for food is about five million tonnes per year; the UK market alone is 550,000 tonnes per year. This agreement increases the total supply of sustainable palm oil for the UK food market to 350,000 tonnes per year. This amounts to more than 60% of the UK’s annual palm oil market for food applications.

Palm oil is used in one in 10 products in the supermarket, including bread, crackers, chips, margarine and cereals, as well as personal care and beauty products such as soap and lipstick.

Alan Chaytor, executive director of New Britain Palm Oil Limited, comments: “The agreement builds on the core strengths of New Britain Palm Oil and Olenex to strengthen their respective positions at the forefront of the fast growing European market for responsibly produced palm oil ingredients.

“By New Britain Palm Oil supplying to versatile facilities like Wilmar’s Brake, as well as Pura Foods Ltd and ADM’s Hamburg, this agreement will help food companies and retailers deliver on their targets of only using 100% sustainable palm oil in the future.”