Bunge Loders Croklaan is a leading global producer and supplier of sustainable plant-based specialty oils and fats for the food manufacturing industry. We are an active member of the RSPO and are continuously improving the sustainability and transparency of the palm oil sector. We operate as the global B2B edible oils business of Bunge Limited. Our products are used in a wide range of applications, from bakery and confectionery to culinary and infant nutrition.
Bunge Loders Croklaan
Our commitment to the movement
Bunge’s Sustainable Palm Oil Sourcing Policy sets clear commitments towards No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation (NDPE). We believe our Sustainable Palm Oil Sourcing Policy has all elements needed to eliminate deforestation from our and our customers’ supply chain. We require all our suppliers to adhere to the principles and commitments in our policy and engage and support them to become compliant. Since 2018 we actively monitor our supply base in Malaysia through our own in-house satellite monitoring system. This system allows us to take appropriate action if any non-compliance with our policy is detected.
Bunge is an active member of the RSPO and participates in various RSPO working groups. We are committed to our NDPE Sustainable Palm Oil Policy, which goes beyond the RSPO principles and criteria.
"We have an obligation to source, process and sell palm oil in a sustainable manner, respecting the environment, human rights, and labor conditions. We are committed to building a palm oil supply chain that is transparent, verified sustainable and creates positive impact on the ground in support of global UN Sustainable Development Goals and is compliant with our NDPE Palm oil Policy."Ben Vreeburg, Sustainability Director Tropical Oils, Bunge Loders Croklaan
Our story
In-house monitoring of our supply base
According to Global Forest Watch research, the dominant drivers of tree cover loss are commodity production, forestry, agriculture, wildlife and urbanization. Bunge’s NDPE policy contains clear commitments towards no deforestation and the protection and conservation of biodiversity areas. We aim to eliminate deforestation from our supply chain via monitoring of suppliers’ practices and support them with the implementation of sustainable practices via workshops and training.
Since 2018, we have been actively monitoring Peninsula and Sabah in Malaysia using satellites, mapping concessions with palm oil plantations, forest reserves, mills and other supply chain related data. By analyzing the difference between satellite images every two weeks, 20 million hectares of land are checked for land-use change, regardless of its relation to palm oil.
When a change is detected, it is verified against historic data to filter out any false alarms, such as change by replanting. Pixels that show land-use changes by deforestation are flagged as an alert.
GIS Platform
All alerts are uploaded into our geographic information system (GIS) platform. Through this powerful platform with forest maps, peat maps, and latest Sentinel-2 images we can be actionable on alerts that may link to the palm oil supply chain. Here, the alerts are prioritized and analyzed. Highest priority alerts fall within concessions. Evidence and supporting information is stored in our continuously maintained database to be transparent.
Since then, suppliers have been mapped, along with additional information related to the supply chain and natural habitats. In numbers, this means we have mapped / developed:
The in-house satellite monitoring system allows Bunge Loders Croklaan to:
- Map our supply base up to concession level
- Actively monitor our supply base a on land use changes
- Take pro-active action when any non-compliance with our NDPE policy occurs
- Determine follow up actions with suppliers on the ground
We provide regular updates on the land use alerts we identified and our follow up actions via our Palm Oil Dashboard.
Our UN Sustainable Development Goals
Our organisation is most concerned with the following 5 UN SDGs:
- Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth (our primary goal)
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production (our base goal)
- Goal 13: Climate Action (our primary goal)
- Goal 15: Life on Land (our primary goal)
- Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals (our central pillar goal)
Our struggles and future plans
Negative media attention and public opinion on palm oil remains a challenge for the entire palm industry.
As of today Bunge Loders Croklaan has achieved 100% traceability to mill and over 60% to plantation in Europe. Our volumes are sourced from suppliers with robust NDPE policies in place. We aim to increase these numbers in the future, while working with our suppliers and stakeholders on the ground to implement the commitments from our NDPE policy.
We will continue to deliver on our commitment to build a transparent, verified and sustainable palm supply chain by:
- Continuing to execute the commitments of our Sustainable Palm Oil Sourcing Policy via forest conservation projects, smallholder support projects and supplier social and labor programs
- Continued supplier engagement to achieve 100% NDPE policy compliance
- Pro-actively monitoring our supply base for land use changes via our own in-house monitoring system in order to detect and eliminate deforestation from our supply chain
- Continuing to be an active member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
- Continuing to support the market via industry initiatives to promote sustainable palm oil to consumers and as such to increase the uptake of sustainable palm oil
- Transparently reporting everything we do via our Palm Oil Dashboard.
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