Help us encourage the major supermarkets in the UK to make their buying decisions more pertinent to global conservation of habitats and to ensure that they are as strict as possible when doing so. This mainly applies to their own brand products, and we are actually focusing on supermarkets as an alternative to contacting every producer individually. After all when you go shopping at your local supermarket, it is them who should try to help you as much as possible when buying sustainable products.
There are 2 sayings which are especially relevant in this situation:
- Think global, act local
- Vote with your wallet
What this means is that you don’t need to fly to Malaysia or Indonesia and pressure their governments and palm oil production companies in person to make a change. You’re considering the global implications of your actions and adhering those values to the way you shop in your local supermarket. Whilst there you are telling the big corporations who aren’t sustainable that you want sustainable products, by purchasing a different product instead. The round table on sustainable palm oil has the same values and has the best intentions in mind however their certification process is not quite as tight as we would like to see. As such let’s try to encourage supermarket buyers to spend a little more time on product selection and look deeper in to the certification process.
If you agree with the statement below please fill in your name and email address at the end of the statement and click send to automatically send that message to the decision makers at some of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains on your behalf. If they get enough messages, we can keep pour fingers crossed that they may consider our suggestions.
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To whom it may concern,
I am writing because it has been brought to my attention that certification with RSPO does not necessarily mean that companies are completely sustainable and that a company which uses just some sustainably sourced palm oil products potentially has the same or very similar certification as a company doing their best and using 100% sustainable palm oil products.
Can you please help us as consumers and reconsider your stance on which items you sell, and how you favor certified products?
Whilst many supermarket chains are taking the leap forward and (especially with their own brand items) preferring products which are certified as being made with sustainable palm oil, I would like to urge you to take this even further and look at the RSPO annual communications and progress instead to see how much of their palm oil is actually sustainably sourced. Some of these numbers are shockingly low and as consumers we simply do not have the time to search for each individual manufacturer while we shop.
Especially when we are shopping we are bombarded from every direction with information about what is in our products, which products are cheaper & which products are on special offer… Please help us shop responsibly by looking deeper in to the certification of the products you stock.
Yours sincerely
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This email will be sent out to the head offices of:
- Aldi
- Asda
- Budgens
- Lidl
- Marks & Spencer
- Morrisons
- Ocado
- Sainsbury’s
- Tesco
- Waitrose
