European Bakery Innovation Centre

Main Goal
The main goal of the visit was to show their commitment to sustainable palm oil and to better understand the key challenges their palm oil partners (plantations, smallholders, industry, NGO’s) face when working towards sustainable palm oil production and RSPO certification. The delegation was not only interested in CSPO (Certified Sustainable Palm Oil) and CSPKO (Certified Sustainable Palm Kernel Oil) but also on the availability of CSPKE (Certified Sustainable Palm Kernel Expeller) for the animal feed industry.

Complexity
The visits and discussions helped to understand the complexity of the palm oil supply chain, the many possibilities of the use of palm oil and its derivatives and how the sector, from smallholders, plantations to industry and retail in close cooperation with NGO’s are jointly working towards sustainability. The trip, which was organized by the Product Board MVO in close cooperation with the Dutch Embassies in the region, included visits to palm oil plantations, smallholders, mills, a kernel crushing plant, refineries and meetings with representatives of the Malaysian and Indonesian industry and research institutes.

Commitment
In Singapore, the 11 persons delegation participated in the RT10 of the RSPO and had meetings with industry players, growers and local NGO’s. The 800+ participants from 37 countries at RT10 showed the growing worldwide support for the RSPO. The RSPO has currently over 1000 members from 50 countries. With almost 1.6 million hectares certified, the RSPO members can supply 7.2 million ton CSPO and 1.7 million ton CSPKO yearly which is 14+ % of the global palm oil production. The delegation members were convinced that the visit and discussions would help them to achieve their joined commitment to ensure that all the palm oil intended for the Dutch market is sustainable by the end of 2015.