PepsiCo reports progress towards goal of 100% sustainable palm oil

Global food and beverage company PepsiCo has reported progress in its goal to use 100% sustainable oil by 2020.

In its ‘Palm Oil Action Plan Progress Report’, the company outlined efforts to strengthen its palm oil supply chain, which includes promoting human rights, responsible land use and supplier transparency.

The company disclosed that 89% of the palm oil it expects to use this year has been traced to the mill level, an increase from 65% in 2015.

PepsiCo has also designed new mechanisms that will help it in extending traceability beyond the mill to plantation level across its entire palm oil supply chain, which it aims to achieve by 2020.

In addition to advanced traceability protocols, the company has introduced a scorecard that will allow the company to work with certain direct suppliers of palm oil to improve their performance in areas such as human rights, deforestation, peat loss and land use policies.

If the supplier fails to meet standards set by the company, they can be subject to significant action such as their removal from its supply chain.

The company has also formalised its grievance system for dealing with allegations of inappropriate supplier conduct.

PepsiCo sustainability director Rob Meyers said: "PepsiCo takes environmental and social issues within the palm oil industry very seriously, and we are making significant investments to improve every aspect of our palm oil supply chain.

"We have made important progress, achieving substantially greater visibility into our suppliers' activities and moving closer to our goal of sustainably sourcing 100% of our palm oil by 2020.

“PepsiCo is committed to doing much more, and we believe that the steps we are taking to promote higher standards among palm suppliers will place us at the forefront of our industry."

PepsiCo products are consumed a billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

It posted net revenues of approximately $63bn last year.