Nestle, the world’s largest food maker, says it has dropped Sinar Mas Group as a supplier of palm oil, after Greenpeace called on it to cut ties with the Indonesian company.
Nestle replaced Sinar Mas with an unidentified supplier, the Switzerland-based company said. Greenpeace on Wednesday published a report accusing Sinar Mas of destroying rain forests to set up palm oil plantations.
The environmentalist group says it wrote to Nestle saying it has “evidence that Sinar Mas is breaking Indonesian law” and ignoring international environmental commitments.
Food giant Unilever suspended deliveries from the Jakarta-based plantation owner and oil producer three months ago.
PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, Sinar Mas’s palm oil unit, is “committed in applying responsible land clearing and the best practice of farming management in all of our plantations,” president director Jo Daud Dharsono said late on Wednesday.
“We always maintain communication with Greenpeace and we will soon arrange a meeting and have a dialogue with them.”
Indonesian deforestation is pushing orangutans toward extinction and accelerating climate change, Greenpeace said on its Web site. Sinar Mas has continued expansion into rain forests and “critical orangutan habitat,” it said.
Nestle repeated its commitment to using only “certified sustainable palm oil” by 2015. Unilever plans to double the amount of palm oil it uses from sustainable sources this year.
Nestle replaced Sinar Mas with an unidentified supplier, the Switzerland-based company said. Greenpeace on Wednesday published a report accusing Sinar Mas of destroying rain forests to set up palm oil plantations.
The environmentalist group says it wrote to Nestle saying it has “evidence that Sinar Mas is breaking Indonesian law” and ignoring international environmental commitments.
Food giant Unilever suspended deliveries from the Jakarta-based plantation owner and oil producer three months ago.
PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, Sinar Mas’s palm oil unit, is “committed in applying responsible land clearing and the best practice of farming management in all of our plantations,” president director Jo Daud Dharsono said late on Wednesday.
“We always maintain communication with Greenpeace and we will soon arrange a meeting and have a dialogue with them.”
Indonesian deforestation is pushing orangutans toward extinction and accelerating climate change, Greenpeace said on its Web site. Sinar Mas has continued expansion into rain forests and “critical orangutan habitat,” it said.
Nestle repeated its commitment to using only “certified sustainable palm oil” by 2015. Unilever plans to double the amount of palm oil it uses from sustainable sources this year.
