Indonesia launches first RSPO certified cooking oil

Global output for certified palm oil is expected to increase way above the current 10% or 4.5 million tonnes in the next few years. Oil palm is a highly profitable crop because yields are high and demand is rising.

French retailer, Carrefour and leading Indonesian oil palm company, Musim Mas recently launched the first Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified oil in the country for domestic market consumption. The country’s RSPO-certified crude palm oil production stands at 3.05 million tons, or 48 percent of global production, as of mid-July, topping Malaysia, which produced 2.75 million tons, or 43 percent of the global total, in the same period, according to the RSPO.

 

Dr Piers Gillespie, Manager for Solidaridad Palm Oil Programmes in Asia, describes the initiative as a great step for the Indonesian market. “We really applaud this first positive step undertaken by Indonesian companies, and are convinced that an eco-focused product of this nature will be well received by an increasingly discerning Indonesian populace.”

 

According to The Jakarta Post online the retail giant PT Carrefour is now selling cooking oil that is the nation’s first palm-oil derivative to be certified by a global sustainable management standards organization. The Post further reports on plans to make the locally produced oil product available in Carrefour’s overseas outlets in Europe. Exports are also on the cards for countries like Malaysia, India, Taiwan and China.

 

Gillespie says new plantation performance standards developed by both RSPO and the national Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) regulation have created a small but growing number of international palm oil buyers willing to assist in the development of greater volumes of sustainably produced palm oil.

 

http://www.solidaridadnetwork.org/indonesia-launches-first-rspo-certified-cooking-oil