At Gousto we’re passionate about where our ingredients come from and understand the need for a more sustainable, responsibly-sourced supply chain. That’s why we developed our palm oil policy.
The versatility of palm oil is a key reason why it’s used in many food products, as it’s colourless and odourless, semi-solid at room temperature and stable at high temperatures.
Unfortunately, growing practices for palm oil can have a negative impact on both people, and the environment as a whole, if managed irresponsibly:
- Palm oil continues to be a major contributor to deforestation, destroying habitats of endangered animals (e.g. orangutans)
- Forest loss coupled with the exposure of carbon-rich peat soils are releasing millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change
- Concerns around the exploitation of workers, child labour and displacement of local communities to obtain their land for palm oil plantations
At Gousto, we believe that boycotting palm oil is not a sustainable option. Palm oil supplies 35% of the world’s vegetable oil demand on just 10% of the land, meaning to switch to alternative vegetable oils would use between 4 and 10 times more land. This would shift the problem to other parts of the world, and could threaten natural habitats and species.
Furthermore, it would disrupt communities in emerging markets that financially rely on the palm oil industry.
Consequently, we believe that creating a sustainable palm oil industry is the better solution.
Therefore, all palm oil-based ingredients (excluding processing aids) used in all raw materials sourced by Gousto must be RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm) certified.