Palm oil
Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil globally and is found in a range of food, household and beauty products. Palm oil is an incredibly efficient crop and typically requires less land than other crops need to produce the same volume of oil. Despite this efficiency, high levels of demand bring greater risks of deforestation, peatland drainage, and human rights issues faced by local communities and plantation workers.
Our approach
To ensure we don’t contribute to deforestation, we are committed to sourcing certified palm oil, the standards for which we set out in our M&S Palm Oil Policy
In 2022, 100% of palm oil in M&S food products was certified according to the requirements of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). We continue to be members of the Palm Oil Transparency Coalition and are working to move 100% of M&S palm oil sourcing from a mass balance to a segregated model. Our target is to source 100% segregated responsibly sourced palm oil by 2025/26.
Our performance
In Foods we made good progress during the year, ensuring that 100% of our ingredient palm oil in edible goods came from RSPO segregated sources. Despite this progress, the availability of segregated palm oil derivatives and fractions remains a challenge in categories like household products and beauty, and we recognise that global events in 2022 are starting to affect availability of alternative vegetable oils to palm oil.
To reach our target, we are continuing to work with supplier partners and peers to increase the demand for RSPO segregated status. We are part of the Edible Fats and Oils Coalition, which has been researching the issues associated with the alternatives to palm oil. We contributed to a research report comparing the environmental, social, nutritional and financial impacts of fats and oils used in foods globally.
| KPI | 2023/24 Performance |
|
Palm oil used in M&S-branded products (Tonnes) |
5069 |
|
Company's certified sustainable palm oil uptake |
100% |
|
% segregated palm oil |
98% (excluding processing aids and non-food) |
|
% mass balance palm oil |
2% (excluding processing aids and non-food) |
Our partners
Listening, learning, responding and working in partnership is an important part of how we do business.
We are working with a number of industry and civil society organisations to tackle the causes of deforestation and promote the benefits of more sustainable palm oil.
We use a small fraction of the world’s palm oil. We can make a difference by buying sustainable palm oil but we can’t transform the industry on our own. We’ve been working with businesses, governments and environmental groups since 2006 to improve production and increase transparency in the supply chain. We’re collaborating with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the Retail Palm Oil Group in support of our goal to remove commodity-driven deforestation. We also confirm the implementation of the RSPO Shared Responsibility requirements in our palm oil related operations.
M&S helped form the Palm Oil Transparency Coalition (POTC) to develop approaches to manage issues not covered by the current RSPO standard and enable retailers to hold palm oil importers to account. The POTC completes an annual assessment against a range of sustainability criteria including deforestation and human rights. Their assessment enables us to benchmark the progress of importers and have dialogue with these producers to step on progress in these challenging areas.
In addition to sourcing RSPO certified palm oil we extend our commitment beyond our direct supply chains by partnering with Forever Sabah, where we have supported the audit and successful RSPO certification of smallholders in Malaysia. This collaborative effort not only safeguards forests but also empowers local smallholder farmers to cultivate palm sustainably, enabling more RSPO certified sustainable palm to come to market. We are continuing our investment and have also partnered with Pacos Trust, to deliver workshops to support smallholders in their understanding of human rights and gender issues in their community.