Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) has completed mapping its supply chain to the mill, and now knows the location and other relevant details of all the 489 mills which supply Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and Palm Kernels (PK) to its processing facilities in eight different locations in Indonesia.
This is an important milestone in a process that began with the extension of GAR’s sustainability policy to its entire supply chain in February 2014. It was reached with the support of environmental organisation, The Forest Trust (TFT), and will enable GAR to support its independent suppliers as they seek to adopt sustainable practices.
“We see a clear industry trend where buyers want more information on the impact of the palm oil they purchase. Our customers can rely on GAR to continue improving the information available about our supply chain. If we can trace the oil back to its source we can engage more effectively with the suppliers and share what we have learned in our own operations to help them improve their environmental and social practices,” said Mr. Paul Hickman, Head of Global Vegetable Oils and Oilseeds, Trading at GAR.
GAR is the world’s second largest palm oil plantation company, with more than 480,000 hectares of plantation managed directly or through its plasma smallholders. It is also a significant buyer of CPO and PK for processing. In 2015, GAR procured over seven million tonnes of CPO and PK from independent and GAR-owned mills. GAR strengthened its sustainability commitment last year, launching the GAR Social and Environmental Policy to build on five years of experience of driving sustainable change on the ground.
Independent suppliers have welcomed GAR’s engagement.
“We see GAR as a true partner. We are able to benefit from their expertise and experience as well as share our own experiences and challenges. By investing in supplier outreach and training, GAR has shown that it is serious about helping all of us improve our sustainability practices,” said Mr. Berlino Mahendra Santosa, Planning and Development Director of PT Perkebunan Nusantara 5.
GAR will continue to publish supply chain and sustainability data on the GAR Sustainability Dashboard as part of its wider commitment to responsible and open reporting. GAR is now working on the next phase of supply chain mapping to the individual plantations and will announce a time-bound plan by the end of this quarter.
