Waitrose

Another response to my letter campaign - this time from Waitrose:

"I am sorry that you are concerned about our products and apologise for the inconvenience you have been caused.

Palm oil, a versatile raw material, is an ingredient included in many products including soap, chocolate, biscuits, ready meals, ice creams, cereal, margarine, paints, make up, shampoo, shower gels, washing powder and fabric softeners. As such it plays a valuable role in the economic development of many countries but as demand for plantations increases, so does the threat to the habitats and biodiversity of tropical forests in Asia, Africa and South America.

As a responsible retailer Waitrose constantly aims to minimise the impact of its operations on the environment and we are keen to see the wide-scale implementatioons of a robust and auditable traceability system for palm oil.

Waitrsoe joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a global forum that encourages sustainable palm oil production and sue, in January 2006. We firmly believe that its work is essential to ensure that production and use of palm oil is carried out in a sustainable manner based on economic, social and environmental viability. Waitrose is committed to the organisation's objectives and we will actively contribute to the growth of sustainable palm oil through its practices and the implementation of relevant projects.

Waitrose does not sell any own brand palm oil. We do sell own brand productws containn palm oil as an ingredient and it is our strict policy to individually name 'palm oil' in our ingredients lists, not to use the term 'blended vegetable oils'. This means that our customers can easily identify which of our own label products contain palm oil. For branded products, the labelling of ingredients is the responsibility of the brand manufacturers. However, we are committed to sharing best practice and we encourage branded suppliers to apply the same principles and polcies as Waitrose. A number of brand manufacturers are also members of the RSPO.

In light of our concerns about the sustainability of palm oil we have developed a firm Sustainable Palm Oil Policy and sourcing guidelines in partnership with the oil producers who supply us. After an extensive consultation period, the RSPO have recently finalised a credible definition of sustainable palm oil production and a set of under pinning criteria. Working with other members of the RSPO Waitrose is helping to devise systems to trace palm oil back to the plantation so that once palm oil is certified as sustaineble (using the RSPO criteria) our suppliers can purchase it.

We will continue with our existing activities - implenting our Sustainable Palm Oil Policy and engaging suppliers in this issue through our Producer Group - until such a time certified sustainable palm oil becomes available and a viable option for retailers and their suppliers."

It might be my previous experiences with Waitrose that are clouding my judgement, but I am more reassured that Waitrose are actively trying to work towards getting sustainable palm oil and taking the matter seriously, than others I have heard from, like Tesco. They are the only company so far to actually label palm oil in their products which, at the very least, gives the consumer the choice of whether to make the purchase or not. If all companies followed suit then the 'power of the people' could really make a point by not buying any products containing palm oil which would mean it would soon prove not to be as profitable as it is now.