Nestlé is embroiled in a bitter row with Greenpeace after the environmental campaign group posted a shocking online video to support allegations that the manufacturing giant used palm oil in Kit Kats that contributed to the death of orang-utans.
Greenpeace claimed that Nestlé sourced palm oil from PT Smart – a division of palm oil giant Sinar Mas, which has been implicated with illegal growing methods in Indonesia.
The video depicted an office worker snacking on a Kit Kat that comprised the severed finger of one of the endangered primates, spouting blood as he did so. A slogan urged consumers to "Give the orang-utan a break".
In a statement the fmcg giant said: “Nestlé UK does not buy palm oil from the Sinar Mas Group for any of our products, including Kit Kat.
“We do purchase palm oil from Cargill [which buys its oil from Sinar Mas] and we have sought assurances from them about their supply chain.
“Cargill has informed us that Sinar Mas needs to answer Greenpeace’s allegations by the end of April. They have indicated that they will de-list Sinar Mas if they do not take corrective action by then.
“Nestlé recently undertook a detailed review of its supply chain to establish the source of its palm oil supplies and we have made a commitment to using only 'Certified Sustainable Palm Oil' by 2015, when sufficient quantities should be available.
"As an important step on that journey, a number of Nestlé markets, including Nestlé UK, have already purchased Green Palm certificates, the certificate trading programme designed to help suppliers tackle the environmental and social problems created by the production of palm oil.”
Watch the Greenpeace video here
No comments yet