Sustainable palm oil grew strongly in 2010

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) ended the year 2010 with strong growth in both the production and use of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil. Compared to 2009, numbers doubled, in many cases even tripled compared to the year before.
The number of RSPO members grew to over 500 companies and organizations, while 81 palm oil mills and 113 facilities in the palm product supply chain are now fully certified.
“In 2010, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil began to deliver on its promises,” said Jan Kees Vis, President of the RSPO's Executive Board. “Sustainably operating palm growers have been certified on an unprecedented scale, with 7.5 percent of global palm oil production covered just over two years after certification took off,” Vis said.
Sales of certified palm products have soared as well, he added, “but in 2011 market uptake will need to grow even faster in order to keep up with rapidly growing production.”
Many companies have pledged to switch to RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil fully by 2015, Vis explained, but until then, it will also be important that users of palm oil match a rising supply with rising market demand.