OUR COMMITMENT TO SOURCING PALM OIL RESPONSIBLY
At Ferrero, we are committed to a deforestation-free palm oil supply chain. The palm oil we use is RSPO Certified Segregated and traceable back to plantations. We are also committed to playing a leading role in the sustainable transformation of the palm oil sector, to benefit the environment and the people living and working in the palm oil-producing communities we source from.
Why palm oil?
Palm oil is an incredibly efficient crop, producing more oil per land area than any other equivalent vegetable oil crop. And environmental groups, such as the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), agree that sustainable palm oil can be beneficial for biodiversity.
As part of our commitment to sourcing sustainable palm oil, we developed our own Ferrero Palm Oil Charter. Our Charter outlines our aim to create a palm oil industry that is better for both people and nature. It also sets out our commitment to supporting smallholder inclusion and resilience and requires our suppliers to protect the environment, safeguard animal habitats and respect human rights.
Since 2021, with the support of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), a global collaborative focused on helping farmers and rural communities thrive, we have launched a pilot project to conduct research in small and mid-size palm oil holdings in Malaysia to explore how plant diversity can be an effective nature-based solution for suppressing insect pests. This research represents the start of a larger-scale programme to encourage palm oil producers to adopt enhanced biodiversity conservation practices, establish habitats for beneficial insects, and reduce the usage of artificial pesticides.
What is RSPO-certified palm oil?
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification is a set of environmental and social criteria companies must comply with which act as a guarantee that the palm oil is sustainably sourced. The RSPO criteria enforces sustainable practices in the cultivation of palm oil, and we are proud to say that the palm oil which we use in our Ferrero core products comes from a certified ‘segregated’ supply chain. Segregated means that sustainable palm oil from certified sources is kept separately from non-sustainable palm oil, throughout the supply chain from the plantations through to our factories.
The 2024 WWF Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard, which evaluates global companies’ efforts on sustainable palm oil, has recognised Ferrero’s long standing commitment to sourcing and promoting sustainable palm oil. Ferrero is considered to be leading the way in sustainable palm oil, ranking 2nd out of 285 companies, with a score of 22.9/24.
We also use satellite monitoring as a powerful tool across all our sourcing areas to guarantee a deforestation-free supply chain. We use Starling satellite monitoring – a service platform powered by Airbus. Starling uses a combination of satellite imagery and on-the-ground expertise to monitor land cover change and forest cover disturbance. It enables us to view land use changes, enhancing our ability to confirm the quality of our supply chain and enabling us to engage with our suppliers and take action if needed.
It’s these commitments that help us ensure the palm oil we use is responsible sourced.
Ferrero, Quality at heart.
Read more about our commitment to source palm oil sustainably
