Olenex C.V., a joint venture between Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and Wilmar International Limited (Wilmar), and New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL) announced today a ground-breaking agreement to supply ADM and Wilmar with fully traceable, certified sustainable palm oil from NBPOL's Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified plantations.
The agreement between Olenex’s parent companies and NBPOL includes the supply of certified sustainable palm oil from NBPOL to Wilmar’s Brake facility in Germany, as well as the supply of certified sustainable palm oil from NBPOL’s refinery in Liverpool, UK, to ADM’s Pura Food Ltd. operations in London. The oil production from these facilities, as well as from ADM’s operations in Hamburg, will be marketed and sold by Olenex throughout Europe.
The agreement is pioneering in the industry, ensuring unprecedented supply chain cooperation and offering the widest range of palm oil fractions and locations in Europe to date. The European market will benefit from the significant increase in availability of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil fractions and derivatives, the shortage of which has been blamed for the limited adoption of sustainable palm oil in the past.
The total European palm oil market for food is approximately five million tonnes per year; the U.K. market alone is 550,000 tonnes per year. This agreement increases the total supply of sustainable palm oil for the U.K. food market to 350,000 tonnes per year. This amounts to more than 60% of the U.K.’s annual palm oil market for food applications.
Palm oil is used in one in ten products in the supermarket, including bread, crackers, chips, margarine and cereals, as well as personal care and beauty products such as soap and lipstick.
Alan Chaytor, Executive Director of New Britain Palm Oil Limited, commented: “The agreement builds on the core strengths of New Britain Palm Oil and Olenex to strengthen their respective positions at the forefront of the fast growing European market for responsibly produced palm oil ingredients.
“By New Britain Palm Oil supplying to versatile facilities like Wilmar’s Brake, as well as Pura Foods Ltd. and ADM’s Hamburg, this agreement will help food companies and retailers deliver on their targets of only using 100% sustainable palm oil in the future.”
Martin Kropp, Member of the Management Board of Olenex, added: “The agreement aligns NBPOL’s production and shipping capabilities with the downstream processing of Wilmar and ADM, as well as with Olenex’s sales and marketing platform. As a result, customers can now tap into an incredibly efficient supply chain and a broad range of palm-based ingredients while simultaneously accessing market-leading sustainability credentials.
“This partnership underscores Olenex’s and NBPOL’s commitment to responsible and sustainable agricultural development by supplying RSPO-certified palm oil to an increasing number of customers in Europe. Now, Olenex is able to offer its customers the best-in-class products and supply chain benefits that we envisaged when we developed the Olenex joint venture.”
Natural environment and fisheries minister, Richard Benyon, said: “Palm oil from unsustainable plantations causes deforestation and destroys the habitats of endangered species like the orangutan. We welcome this initiative which makes it easier for manufacturers to do the right thing. It will help us move towards the target of 100 percent sustainable palm oil in the UK by 2015.”
Arduino Borgogno, Corporate Social Responsibility Director for the Ferrero Group, said: “Once again, New Britain Palm Oil is at the forefront of the sustainable palm oil industry. The collaboration of ADM, Wilmar, NBPOL and Olenex to provide a truly sustainable segregated supply of palm oil in most fractions will help companies like Ferrero continue to purchase their ingredients in a responsible manner ahead of target."
NBPOL is a large-scale integrated industrial producer of sustainable palm oil in Australasia, headquartered in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The Company is listed on both the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and on the Port Moresby Stock Exchange in PNG.
