French market warming up to sustainable palm oil

On 7 April, more than 150 representatives of French consumer good manufacturing and retail companies attended a conference in Paris on the use of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil.
Attendants heard talks by Boris Patentreger (WWF France), Gavin Neath (Unilever), Chris Linderman (IOI Loders Croklaan), and Paul Rowsome and Stéphanie Mathey from French retailer Carrefour.
At the conference, Unilever announced it bought GreenPalm certificates equivalent to 180 000 tonnes of sustainable palm oil in 2009. The company pledged to double that amount in 2010. IOI Loders Croklaan, co-sponsor of the event, unveiled to French palm oil users that the company will be able to supply segregated refined sustainable palm oil to continental Europe as of next June.