RSPO to Participate in the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Organic Food

For the first time, the RSPO Secretariat will be a part of the annual trade show duo, Biofach and Vivaness from 12 – 15 February, 2020 in Nuremberg, Germany. With the entire natural and organic movement meeting to learn more about the responsible use of nature’s resources, attendees will also see Dr Jane Goodall, DBE, primate researcher, UN Messenger of Peace, and sustainable palm oil supporter present a keynote address to officially open the event. 

But why is sustainable palm oil so relevant in this context? 
Regenerative and organic agricultural practices can offer solutions to some of the present environmental challenges such as soil degradation and landscape management, yet most organic certification does not cover socio-economic issues and only partially addresses sustainability.  Organic agriculture alone cannot  meet the growing population’s food demands in the coming decades. It is imperative therefore to look at how we source agricultural commodities on a much broader scale. Palm oil is one of the most efficient crops; requiring less land to produce more oil than other types of vegetable oil (such as sunflower, coconut or rapeseed oil), and it uses less pesticides.

In order to meet the conscious demand from consumers to have fair, clean and natural products, companies will need to take a holistic approach in the certification market. RSPO is a  complementary scheme for many manufacturers who want to meet a broad range of sustainability requirements when sourcing ingredients for food and cosmetic products alike. A recent study published by Paul van den Berge from the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) stated that, “RSPO has very interesting requirements that are not covered by organic certification. RSPO audits help ensure that palm oil producers are transparent about their pricing and management systems, invest into conservation area protection and monitoring, and comply with all labour laws not only for their own staff but also supplying farmers and companies." (1)

All these topics will be covered during the panel debate ‘Sustainable Palm Oil: a resource for the cosmetic industry to achieve environmental and social goals’ on February 14, organised by NATRUE with participation from both RSPO and FiBL. The event will take place at the Vivaness Congress, hall 3C Stand 3C-061 at 11.00. Additionally, RSPO will have a booth in the NGO area (hall 9 booth 9-541), where you can find both Francesca Morgante, Market Development Manager and Lilian Garcia Lledo, Assurance Manager from RSPO’s European team on-site and ready to answer any questions you may have. 

For more information please visit Biofach/Vivaness websites https://www.biofach.de/en and https://www.vivaness.de/en or email Francesca Morgante or Lilian Garcia Lledo to arrange a meeting at the event.