IOI-Loders Croklaan Europe to Offer Segregated RSPO-Certified Palm Oil

Up to now, the only sustainable palm oil available on the European continent has been certified by the RSPO as Book & Claim or Mass Balance.

8 Apr 2010 --- From mid-2010 onwards, IOI-Loders Croklaan Europe will become the first palm oil supplier in continental Europe to supply fully segregated, RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil. The announcement was made by Chris Linderman, Business Unit Manager Bulk Oils Europe for IOI-Loders Croklaan, during a seminar on sustainable palm oil held in Paris.

The seminar was organized by IOI-Loders Croklaan, an executive member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). It included presentations from Unilever, WWF France and Carrefour to underline the importance of palm oil to the world’s food production, as well as ways to transform it into a fully sustainable commodity. “The seminar is being held at a crucial moment in time”, said Marc den Hartog, Sales & Marketing Director for IOI-Loders Croklaan and RSPO Executive Board member. “The interest in sustainable oil continues to grow, and it’s important to inform food manufacturers of the ways in which they can contribute to the sustainability efforts currently underway.”

IOI-Loders Croklaan’s announcement marks a major breakthrough in the ability of the fats and oils industry to provide European food manufacturers with wholly sustainable palm oil. Up to now, the only sustainable palm oil available on the European continent has been certified by the RSPO as Book & Claim or Mass Balance. While both these supply chain models make sustainably produced palm oil available to the European market, they do so by administratively monitoring the trade of sustainable palm oil and its derivatives, providing a driver for the mainstream trade of sustainable palm oil.

Segregation is the most transparent and far-reaching method of RSPO certification, because it ensures that sustainably produced palm oil is kept physically separate from non-sustainable palm oil at every stage of the supply chain. This technique not only provides consumers with a guarantee that the palm oil they are using is completely sustainable, but also allows for greater traceability. European manufacturers who use segregated RSPO-certified palm oil can make the official market claim that “this product contains only RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil”. As the volume of RSPO-certified palm oil increases, segregated palm oil will be able to make up a larger percentage of the total sustainable palm oil supply.

IOI-Loders Croklaan’s ability to provide segregated palm oil is possible thanks to the opening of the company’s new state-of-the-art refinery on the Rotterdam Maasvlakte in June 2010. This environmentally friendly refinery, built to allow IOI-Loders Croklaan to significantly extend its product portfolio, has the storage capacity, infrastructure and technology necessary to keep sustainable palm oil wholly segregated from other oils. IOI-Loders Croklaan Europe’s refinery in Wormerveer currently supplies Book & Claim and Mass Balance RSPO-certified palm oil, but if there is growth in the volume of RSPO-certified oil available, as well as increased market demand for segregated product, this site will also be transformed to supply fully-segregated, RSPO-certified palm oil to customers.

Loders Croklaan’s parent company IOI Corporation Berhad (IOI) announced on March 23 that its Pamol Kluang, Peninsula and Sakilan Estates in Sabah, Malaysia has been awarded the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Compliance Certification for its sustainable palm oil production.

Earlier in 2009 our Pamol Estates Grouping in Sabah, Malaysia were awarded. Currently, IOI is actively pursuing certification audits on its other estates and mills in Malaysia with a view of obtaining the RSPO certification for all its estates and mills by the middle of 2011. The IOI Group is one of the founding members of the RSPO, an association created by organizations carrying out their activities in and around the entire supply chain for palm oil to promote growth and use of sustainable palm oil.