Swiss food and drink giant Nestlé plans to stop sourcing palm oil from subsidiaries of leading Indonesian palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari following environmental groups’ allegations of land and human rights abuses by the company, according to a Reuters report.
Nestlé, the manufacturer of KitKat chocolate and Nespresso coffee, told Reuters that following a recent independent assessment, it had instructed its suppliers to ensure palm oil from three subsidiaries of AAL did not enter its supply chain.
Without specifying the claims against AAL other than to say it had been on its “grievance” list for several months, the company said it expects it will not be using any palm oil from them by the end of the year, according to the 30 September report.
AAL denied the accusations made against it, the report said.
“Astra Agro is very serious about implementing our sustainability policy. It is not true that Astra Agro or its subsidiaries carry out land grabbing,” AAL president director Pendidikan Santosa told Reuters.
Nestlé was not a direct buyer of products produced by AAL, but most probably bought from its customers, Santosa added.
The European Commission has proposed several laws aimed at preventing and, in the case of forced labour, banning the import and use of products linked to environmental and human rights abuses, Reuters wrote.
Environmental group Friends of the Earth said Nestlé’s move to stop sourcing from AAL was an important “first step” and called on other leading consumer companies to follow.
