The Great Palm Oil Debate

Palm oil is something of a buzz subject at the moment, and we are regularly contacted by members of the public asking why on earth we are still using Palm Oil.

The simple answer is that Palm Oil is a great ingredient. It's the production and farming methods that are not. Most of us know about the plight of the Sumatran Orang-utans in the face of slash-and-burn deforestation to name just one environmental crisis. So, when we choose products and ingredients with Palm oil or one of it's derivatives, we actively seek out and exclusively use suppliers that are using 100% RSPO Certified Segregated Sustainable Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oils. RSPO is a not-for-profit association that unites stakeholders from seven sectors of the palm oil industry – oil palm producers, palm oil processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental or nature conservation NGOs and social or developmental NGOs – to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil with the objective of promoting the growth and use of sustainable palm oil.


We also choose surfactants (bubbling agents) that are made from organic Coconut oil- SLSA, Cocamidopropyl Betaine and even our Polysorbate 20!

Palm oil is everywhere. Literally. Even when you think it isn't, it is. Palm oil is found mostly in foods such as ice cream, biscuits and cookies, instant noodles, most pre-packed ready meals, chocolate, margarine and bakery fat, and also in most cosmetics that contain SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulphate), SLES, or Stearic Acid. Also plastics, lubricants, textiles, animal feed and in pharmaceutical products. Even an innocent Vitamin E capsule could have traces of Palm.

So what is the answer? Give in to it? Boycott it totally? We think the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Choose products that are farmed in accordance with RSPO. Research for yourself. Know that Palm oil itself is a superior ingredient both as a foodstuff and in the cosmetics, plastics, metalworks and pharmaceutical industries, not to mention and amazing resource for the farmers that produce it. As the saying goes- don't throw the baby out with the bath water...