While it is intended to help improve the image of palm oil, the RSPO label seems not to have conquered the heart of British brands.

In 2012, a survey for The Grocer magazine revealed that just three percent of UK shoppers recognised the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) on-pack logo. The logo is intended to show when sustainable oil has been used in a product. At the time, RSPO secretary general Darrel Webber said brands weren’t using the logo because they were afraid it would be seen as a mark of sin.

In February this year, The Grocer repeated its poll and found that Britain is as in the dark as ever. Again, just three percent recognised the logo, adopted by only a handful of brands despite the majority of them using certified oil. So why are brands shunning the logo? And, with all the palm oil used in the UK expected to be sustainable by the end of next year, does it really matter?

Palm oil is controversial. And controversy doesn’t help sell groceries. Reports that slash and burn forest clearance in Indonesia has hit record highs to make way for oil palm plantations means any reference to the ingredient on pack will still be seen by some, to use Webber’s words, as a mark of sin. The raft of new products in the UK marketed on the fact they contain no palm oil bears this out.

The fact that RSPO members have been implicated in illegal forest clearance hasn’t helped. Nor has growing criticism of the body for failing to properly investigate claims against its members.

But in spite of it all, the RSPO is a force for good. It is not perfect, and understandably so. Reconciling the conflicting interests of its members which vary from NGOs, retailers and manufacturers to palm oil processors, plantation owners and smallholders is no easy task. And the RSPO deserves greater support from brands in terms of getting its message across.

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