17 Jul 2012 --- As of 1 August 2012, FrieslandCampina Kievit will create a link between the product names of its ingredients based on palm oil and their sustainable palm status, RSPO Segregated (RSPO SG) or RSPO Mass Balance (RSPO MB). This immediately informs customers of the product’s sustainability level. FrieslandCampina Kievit will be the first company in the spray-dried ingredients market to adopt this initiative. Initially, the RSPO status will be displayed for the palm oil-based ingredients that are destined for markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North and South America.
 
FrieslandCampina has decided to adopt a purchasing policy that focuses on sustainability for as many raw materials as possible as part of its strategy for making the entire dairy chain green and sustainable. Bas van Driel, Business unit Director EMEAA of FrieslandCampina Kievit: “As a manufacturer of ingredients, we also want to play a leading role in the area of sustainability. By linking the sustainability level of our palm oil products to our product names, customers can immediately see that the palm oil used in our ingredients is sustainable.” FrieslandCampina Kievit is the first certified supplier of palm oil-based, spray-dried ingredients to link the RSPO status to the product name.
 
The sustainability criteria have been drawn up by the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). This organisation's mission is to encourage the sustainable production and use of palm oil by setting up appropriate guidelines. One of the stipulations of those guidelines, for example, is that valuable rain forest may not be cut down in order to produce palm oil. Organisations from the entire chain are represented in the Round Table’s membership: producers, traders, the palm oil processing industry, retailers, banks and social organisations such as the WWF and Solidaridad. FrieslandCampina has been a member of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil since 2007.
 
Segregated palm oil is sustainably certified palm oil, which is kept separate from conventional palm oil throughout the entire chain. Mass Balance palm oil is sustainably certified palm oil, which is tracked administratively in the chain, but which is also mixed with conventional palm oil. Edwin Riegman, R&D manager Category team Oils & Fats at FrieslandCampina: “FrieslandCampina is a leading innovator in the dairy sector. The company has a progressive policy and strives to achieve 100% purchase of segregated palm oil in the long term. At present, we already purchased sustainable palm oil whenever possible. Preferably segregated, but if that grade is not available, we buy ‘mass balance’ palm oil. In the case of products where neither option is possible, we purchase Greenpalm book & claim certificates. The WWF hopes that other companies will follow our example.”
 
In 2012, the task force for sustainable palm oil recognised FrieslandCampina’s efforts in the area of purchasing sustainable palm oil by awarding the company the ‘Task Force Duurzame Palmolie’ Award.