Sep 16 2010 --- Unimills, the leading European supplier of natural vegetable oil based ingredients, and Unilever, a global consumer goods company, underline their commitment to sustainable agriculture by announcing a long-term supply agreement for hardstocks based on Segregated Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO).

Unimills sources the segregated CSPO solely from its parent company, Sime Darby, which is the world’s largest producer of sustainable palm oil and whose plantations in Malaysia are certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The segregated CSPO is processed into specialty fats, such as hardstocks, which will then be sent to Unilever to be used in its various food products.

Sime Darby Acting President and Group Chief Executive, Dato’ Mohd Bakke, said: “To date, 15 of our Strategic Operating Units (SOUs) have been awarded the RSPO certification. The 15 certified SOUs have the capacity to produce over 500,000 tonnes of Sustainable Crude Palm Oil (CPO) annually, making us the world’s largest producer of sustainable palm oil.”  He added that it is Sime Darby’s intention to have all of its 60 SOUs certified by the end of 2011.

“This agreement marks another important milestone in our journey to using 100 percent sustainable palm oil. We see in Sime Darby a likeminded partner who is as dedicated to operating sustainably and responsibly as we are. We are both founding members of the RSPO and we work closely together on our sustainable journey,” said Marc Engel, Chief Procurement Officer at Unilever.

He added that Unilever is ahead of its plan to source all of its palm oil from certified sustainable sources by 2015, with over 35 percent already being RSPO certified this year.

Alexander van der Klauw, Managing Director of Unimills, said the Company is very pleased with the long-term supply agreement with Unilever.

“Unilever is one of the front runners in this field and we are proud that we can partner with another leading player in the sustainability arena. This agreement also underlines our ambition to help all our customers to switch to fats based on sustainable palm oil. We have a team of experts that is well branched in sustainable sourcing and well equipped to advise our customers on what the right switch strategy for their business could look like. Hopefully, many customers will follow Unilever’s example,” he noted.

Unimills expects regular shipments of segregated CSPO to arrive from Malaysia every month for supply to Unilever and other customers.