Tesco today announced its intention to join the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to help the industry identify ways of sourcing this widely used ingredient more responsibly.
Announcing the move, Group Corporate and Legal Affairs Director, Lucy Neville-Rolfe said:
"We are deeply concerned about the loss of rainforest - and the orangutans it supports - and believe that we can make a real contribution to work in this important area.
"It is a complex problem and our technical team have learnt a lot about the issue over the last two years and we hope that by sharing our knowledge and ideas, we will make a positive contribution and help to make a difference."
Stanley Johnson, former MEP and senior advisor to United Nation's Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) welcomed the statement:
"This is tremendously good news. Given the enormous range of products containing palm oil marketed by Tesco in stores across the UK, it is vital that Tesco should join the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - as they now have. And given Tesco's increasing international operations, constructive participation from Tesco is likely to be even more important in the future."
