Palm oil

Palm oil is a natural vegetable oil extracted from the crushed fruit of the oil palm tree. Originally native to West Africa and grown in equatorial regions worldwide, most of the world’s supply now comes from Indonesia and Malaysia.

It is uniquely versatile due to its balance of fats, making it ideal for a vast range of foods and household goods. What makes oil palm truly remarkable, however, is its efficiency: it accounts for 40% of all global vegetable oil production while requiring 4 to 10 times less land per tonne than any other vegetable oil crop. It also provides a vital livelihood for millions of smallholder farmers, who produce roughly 40% of the world's supply.

Historically, the rapid expansion of palm oil production often came at a severe cost to tropical rainforests, biodiversity, and local communities. But it needn’t be this way. Responsibly produced palm oil changes that narrative.

When produced this way, palm oil is grown under strict standards that:

• Protect forests & wildlife: Prohibits deforestation, limits greenhouse gas emissions, and safeguards natural habitats.
• Uphold human rights: Protects worker welfare, ensures fairer wages, and respects land rights for indigenous communities.
• Support livelihoods: Gives smallholder farmers access to better-growing techniques, new markets, and improved earnings.

To increase adoption of these standards, we partner with and support the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)—a global non-profit organisation bringing together the whole supply chain, including growers, retailers, and conservation groups, to set the global standard for sustainable palm oil and work to make it the norm everywhere.

“Banning palm oil sounds like an easy fix, but substituting it with other crops would require up to ten times more land, driving even greater impacts. Sourcing 100% certified palm oil is a more effective way to help protect rainforests whilst supporting local communities.”

— Waitrose Ethics & Sustainability Team

It’s a natural question to ask, but leading environmental organisations—including the WWF—agree that boycotting palm oil isn’t the solution.

Here is why replacing palm oil can actually cause more harm than good:

• Land footprint: Because oil palms produce vastly more oil per hectare than sunflower, soy, or rapeseed, switching to alternative crops would require clearing up to 10 times more natural land to meet global demand.
• Shifting the problem: A boycott doesn't stop unsustainable practices; producers would simply sell uncertified oil to markets with lower environmental standards.
• Protecting farming families: Local farming communities rely on palm oil for income. Removing demand would force farmers towards other cash crops that yield less and require more land.

We require 100% of palm oil ingredients in Waitrose branded products to be certified to strict RSPO standards:

• Food Products: More than 99% of the palm ingredients used across our food ranges are certified to the RSPO Segregated standard, meaning they are traceable back to certified sources.
• All Products: All palm ingredients in all products must be RSPO Segregated whenever available to procure, meaning that all physical oil in a product comes from certified growers. At a minimum, we require RSPO Mass Balance certification. This means that certified and uncertified oil may be mixed together in the supply chain, but the exact volume of certified oil going in is strictly tracked to ensure it matches the amount ultimately sold as certified to companies like Waitrose.
• Independent Smallholders: We buy additional RSPO Independent Smallholder Credits beyond our direct product footprint to fund and support small-scale farmers to adopt industry best practices. Certified farmers receive a credit for each tonne of palm oil they produce and can sell these credits to companies for additional income. 

Waitrose was recognised as the leading UK retailer for responsible palm oil sourcing in the 2024 WWF Palm Buyers Scorecard.

While Waitrose usage represents less than one-hundredth of one percent of global palm oil production, we use our voice to drive wider industry progress through active collaboration:

• Empowering Indigenous Communities: Since 2022, we’ve partnered with the Forest Conservation Fund to support the Mului indigenous community in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, helping them protect their customary forests, preserve cultural heritage, and build more sustainable livelihoods.
• Global Advocacy & Leadership: We’ve been RSPO members since 2006, play an active role in the Retail Palm Oil Group (RPOG), advocate for strong UK and EU due diligence legislation against deforestation, and co-founded the Palm Oil Transparency Coalition (now Compass).