The Sustainable Palm Oil Choice gaining traction! 

In the second half of 2020 the SPOC activities started to gain traction. Three webinars were organized,  each attended by about 100 – 120 participants, the SPOC website was revamped to become a knowledge hub uniting objective information on sustainable palm oil and 8 recommendations on How to be a Palm Oil Frontrunner were published. Finally also an analysis was done of which sectors can be further stimulated to drive up the demand for sustainable palm oil. 

The SPOC initiative was set up in 2019 to stimulate the transition to more sustainable palm oil value chains and contribute to more balanced communication around palm oil in Europe. Participants include both NGOs and well as private sector. The initiative is governed by an Advisory Panel composed of among others WWF, Conservation International, IDH, Wilmar, Sime Darby and Ferrero. The secretariat is led by Marieke Leegwater of Solidaridad. 

The first results of SPOC of the second half of 2020 look promising. In November the website was visited by nearly 2000 people and the linked in followers has grown to over 850. The post impressions grew to 10.000 and besides IDH, Solidaridad and EPOA also Ferrero has indicated to contribute financially to the initiative! 

At the end of 2020 a campagne was launched around the 8 recommendations on How to be a Palm Oil Frontrunner. Each week a company will be featured who is implementing one of the recommendations in a Best Practice way. The first article was on Ferrero.

 
In 2021 SPOC will continue the above campaign, but also develop a monthly story about the impacts of sustainable palm oil on the ground, highlighting how sustainable palm oil production contributes to reducing poverty or improved biodiversity values. Furthermore, will organize another 5 webinars and drive up demand for sustainable palm oil, among others by diving into the feed sector. 

For more information please refer to Marieke Leegwater.