WWF rated 47 regional companies and found the majority have no public policies or commitments on sustainable palm oil sourcing

A new scorecard rating companies headquartered in Singapore and Malaysia on their palm oil sustainability commitments has found that the majority do not disclose any information on their sourcing practices.

The WWF Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard surveyed 47 companies, all household brands in Malaysia and Singapore, asking how far along the path they were to sourcing 100% certified sustainable palm oil. Only 16 disclosed any information.

“We were disappointed at the number of non responses,” said Denise Westerhout, the lead for WWF Malaysia’s sustainable markets programme, “because it doesn’t enable us to gauge how well the market is moving along and how much help it needs in raising awareness and understanding what we need to do”.

Two companies emerged as regional leaders in the scorecard, providing, according to WWF, “a clear indication that sourcing sustainable palm oil is possible”. Out of a total of 12 points, Denis Asia Pacific and Wildlife Reserves Singapore Group (WRS) scored 10 and nine respectively. Both have committed to sourcing 100% certified sustainable palm oil by 2018 and 2022 respectively.

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The aim behind WRS’ decision to focus on palm oil sourcing was “guaranteeing the protection of habitat for wildlife threatened by unsustainable palm oil production”, said Sonja Luz, director of conservation, research and veterinary at WRS.



For Denis Asia Pacific, it was about “employee satisfaction, brand value and business opportunities in Europe, US and Australia where sustainable palm oil has become a market entry criteria,” according to Roy Teo, managing director of Ayam Brand at Denis Asia Pacific.

Market drivers are a key pressure point when it comes to engaging companies with sustainable palm oil sourcing, said Westerhout, “for example consumer pressure or regulatory demands from export markets.”

However, the majority of companies surveyed – 70% – either refused or ignored WWF’s request for information and do not publicly disclose their palm oil policies. And of the 15 which responded, half admitted to taking no action to source sustainable palm oil.

Benjamin Loh, WWF Malaysia’s sustainable palm oil manager, said some companies they talked to lacked internal capacity and expertise on sustainable palm oil. “So they don’t even have the infrastructure, or the facility, or the resources to comment on the scorecard,” he said.



Palm oil is an ingredient in a huge number of consumer goods, from biscuits to infant formula, which accounts for the much cited statistic that the oil is in 50% of all supermarket food products. It’s also a huge driver of deforestation, and can have negative consequences on the people and animals that live in areas of palm production.

While WWF has been ranking international companies on their palm oil commitments since 2009, this marks the first time the non-profit has focused solely on Malaysia and Singapore. The decision was made to take a regional view, said Westerhout, because local companies have a very low level of awareness about sustainable palm oil: “It would be unfair for us to compare them against the larger [international] companies that were far further down the road of sustainability.”

Palm oil accounts for 5-6% of the GDP of Malaysia, which is the world’s second largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia. Singapore is a base for the regional operations of major palm oil growers and traders and is also a financial hub for investment into these companies.

Both countries were affected by the choking haze pollution blown their way from neighbouring Indonesia, which experiences widespread forest fires every year thanks to illegal forest clearance, linked to the palm oil industry among others.

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The fires were particularly devastating in 2015 when the noxious smoke settled across swaths of south-east Asia, leading to regional shut downs in Malaysia and Singapore and forcing tens of thousands of residents to seek help for respiratory problems.

In response, WWF last year launched a new alliance in south east Asia aimed at boosting demand for sustainable palm oil and tackling haze pollution. Members include Unilever, Ayam Brand, Danone, Ikea and WRS. “The alliance sends a clear signal to consumers about which companies are committed to sustainability and which are not”, said Elaine Tan, CEO of WWF­-Singapore.

However, there is still much work to be done on raising consumer awareness. In Malaysia, “there is very low to zero awareness on palm oil”, said Westerhout. “We need to help consumers better understand that their choices make a difference”