Conflict Palm Oil is palm oil that has been produced illegally or under conditions associated with labor or human rights violations, ongoing destruction of rainforests, or expansion on carbon-rich peatlands. The numerous issues with Conflict Palm Oil have been increasingly spotlighted, which has spurred many companies throughout the palm oil supply chain to adopt responsible palm oil policies. These policies outline commitments to produce and source palm oil that is not associated with the violation of workers’ rights, deforestation, expansion on carbon-rich peatlands, or the violation of human rights. As the largest globally distributed snack food company in the world, and a major purchaser of palm oil, PepsiCo is one such company to recently adopt a policy.

Unfortunately PepsiCo’s policy contains a loophole: it does not require its joint venture partner, Indofood — one of the largest palm oil growers in the world, the biggest food company in Indonesia, and the sole maker of PepsiCo products in Indonesia — to meet the same requirements for the palm oil it uses to make PepsiCo’s products. This omission means that the palm oil produced and sourced by Indofood to make PepsiCo-branded products in Indonesia is not required to meet the same environmental and social safeguards as PepsiCo products made directly by PepsiCo.

To understand the impact of this exclusion on palm oil workers, a team of researchers investigated the living and working conditions of laborers on two palm oil plantations that are owned and operated by PepsiCo’s joint venture partner Indofood, under its subsidiary plantation company PT PP London Sumatra Tbk‘s (Lonsum), located on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Investigations were conducted in September and October 2015 by a team of researchers through one-on-one interviews with workers; examination of workers’ documents such as pay slips, letters and work agreements; and on-site observation of workers performing their work duties, workers’ living conditions and the plantations’ amenities. Forty-one Indofood workers were individually interviewed for this investigation.