Palm Oil

Mondelēz International is committed to sourcing palm oil sustainably and eradicating deforestation and human rights violations in the palm oil supply. We take this responsibility seriously.

For years, we have actively worked with our global suppliers to ensure that the palm oil we use in our products is sustainably sourced and fully traceable. In fact, we were the first multinational consumer goods company to require suppliers to trace all the oil they sell, not just the oil they sell to us.

In 2014, we published our Palm Oil Action Plan, a long-term roadmap to achieve a sustainable palm oil supply, which we launched after achieving our milestone of 100% Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Palm coverage in 2013. The Palm Oil Action Plan defines our position and principles for palm oil sustainability, focusing on supplier expectations, government and sector engagement in key origins and global industry advocacy toward sector transformation.

By the end of 2019, 98 percent of the palm oil sourced by our company was traceable to the mill, and 98 percent was purchased from suppliers with published policies that are aligned with best practice sustainable principles.

From 2020, we require traceable, forest-monitored palm oil from mills across our supply chain. The new requirements include traceability to plantation and satellite monitoring covering all palm oil concessions supplying mills attributed to the company, against the deforestation criteria set out in its Palm Oil Action Plan. All mills must be identified on Global Forest Watch, with no active grievances against concessions in their direct supply, or operated by the same producer groups elsewhere. In addition, suppliers must have third-party assurance of their monitoring process and systems used and be subject to cross-check by Mondelēz International.

From Q1 2021, we expect 80% of its palm oil to meet these enhanced expectations with strong supplier partnership, working to increase coverage as quickly as possible. The enhanced sourcing requirements will improve transparency across the sector by requiring suppliers to confirm sustainable sourcing practices across their entire supply chain by 2025, not just the portion supplied to Mondelēz International.

The Mondelēz International Palm Oil Action Plan details actions to achieve our goals to make sustainable palm oil the mainstream option, based on the principles that production should be on legally held land; not lead to deforestation or loss of peat land; respect human rights, including land rights; and not use forced or child labor.

Our Palm Oil Action Plan requires suppliers to:

• Take full responsibility for eliminating deforestation in their own operation and upstream supply chain by mapping and monitoring all plantations and immediately suspend companies involved in deforestation
• Take action against the exploitation of worker human rights through adopting the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Priority Industry Principles on forced labor

While Mondelēz International accounts for only about 0.5 percent of palm oil consumption globally, we have played – and continue to play – a leadership role in global industry advocacy toward sector transformation.

To date, we have partnered and engaged with several of the leading global organizations focused on improving the palm oil supply chain.

• We are co-chair of the Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Forest Positive coalition task force
• We have supported the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Government of Indonesia, and others to develop a National Action Plan for palm oil
• We are supporting the development of the Coalition for Sustainable Livelihoods, a group of civil society, private sector, and government organizations working collectively to strengthen smallholder livelihoods, improve agriculture and conserve forests in North Sumatra and Aceh, Indonesia

We continue to maintain our engagement with these and other stakeholders in the palm oil sector to ensure we learn and contribute toward our common goal of achieving palm oil sustainability. Since 2018, we have called for our suppliers to act faster to eliminate deforestation and to map and monitor all palm oil plantations and concessions. Specifically, we have asked our suppliers to commit to palm oil concession mapping and monitoring as a vital step to accountability and change. Our work with these organizations is based on our view that the complex challenge of producing sustainable palm oil can only be solved through collaboration with all actors in the palm oil supply chain, from growers to suppliers and buyers, as well as local and national government and non-governmental organizations. We remain committed to achieving complete sustainability and transparency across our supply chain and the industry at large, and will continue to provide regular updates on our progress.