The free trade agreement with the Indonesian regime has probably been to no avail; they will no longer be exporting palm oil for the time being. Wouldn't this be a good time to finally switch back to more sensible and, above all, more ecological alternatives? And please don't come up with the excuse that palm oil cannot be replaced, it used to work without it!
If Migros had started working out alternative recipes years earlier, improvements would have led to an unnoticed replacement by now. Other companies and other manufacturers managed to do the same, so now they are forced to do so under time pressure. Well, the poor customers who will now be so upset because of the lack of palm oil "taste and sensory", because the biscuit has butter in it again and you don't even know that anymore.
Exactly, on top of that, Indonesia continues to diligently cut down rainforest; I read on the internet that Indonesia is apparently cutting down more than Brazil. After an enormous amount of rainforest has already disappeared in Sumatra and Borneo, the industry is now beginning to destroy more and more primary forest in Papua. In 20 years, the Indonese have increased palm oil production sevenfold, and a further 200,000 km2 are to be converted into plantations. This is equivalent to an area five times the size of Switzerland or the remaining primary forests in Indonesia. But of course, everything has a sustainability label, so it's not so bad.
If Migros had started working out alternative recipes years earlier, improvements would have led to an unnoticed replacement by now. Other companies and other manufacturers managed to do the same, so now they are forced to do so under time pressure. Well, the poor customers who will now be so upset because of the lack of palm oil "taste and sensory", because the biscuit has butter in it again and you don't even know that anymore.
I'll just say "apple farmer"... Migros has still not managed to make the bar edible again. And I dare to doubt that this is only due to the change in palm oil.
Hello Dänu76, thank you for your message. Migros does not purchase any crude palm oil or palm kernel oil from Indonesia for industrial production. As can be seen from the import statistics (https://www.reservesuisse.ch/datengrundlage or https://www.gate.ezv.admin.ch/swissimpex/public/bereiche/waren/query.xhtml), this has applied to all players in the Swiss Palm Oil Network, of which Migros is a member, since November 2020. The reason for this is that the importers of palm oil to Switzerland rely on long-standing supplier relationships and their commitment at origin is stable. The origins and quantities of all imports into Switzerland can be viewed on the website of the Swiss Palm Oil Network (https://palmoelnetzwerk.ch/engagement). The export ban on the part of Indonesia, with the aim of combating food inflation in the country, will apply from 28.4.2022 until further notice. Of course, this will have an impact on global supply chains. However, the physical effects can only be assessed, at least in part, in the coming weeks. However, the example of sunflower oil shows how interconnected supply chains are. This means that even if you do not source directly from a particular provenance, this can have an impact on your own supply chain if the failing provenance has a significant share of the global market. We cannot predict which country will impose which export restrictions to combat price inflation, as this is beyond our knowledge. However, in the current situation, the oil plants have informed the Federal Office for National Economic Supply as part of the periodic assessment that such export stops in the vegetable oil sector can be expected at any time. Furthermore, palm oil is an important source of food in Indonesia. Most of it remains in the country. It is therefore important for Switzerland and Western Europe in general to lead the way with examples of best practice and create incentives for organic farming with standards and high sustainability requirements. Of course, Migros also regularly checks the recipes of its products and adapts them where it is possible and makes sense. For example, Migros' own industry has already replaced palm oil in a large number of products in recent years. New products in which we do not use palm oil are constantly being added. However, it is also important to consider the other side of the coin: Palm oil is 5 to 10 times more productive than rapeseed or coconut oil, for example. This means that more land is required for cultivation. Switching to other oils is therefore not a sustainable solution. Scientific studies by the ETH and the WWF confirm that substituting palm oil does not protect the environment, but improving cultivation, standards and controls does. Migros is therefore considering both ways - avoiding and substituting where sensible and feasible, as well as ensuring and committing to the use of sustainably grown palm oil - as the viable way forward on this issue. I hope this information helps you. Best regards, Matteo
Guest
Rethinking is probably the number one issue for many manufacturers right now. Those who rethink now will probably only feel the results in two years' time and then everything will be different again. It's all about the money.
Hello Dänu76, thank you for your message. Migros does not purchase any crude palm oil or palm kernel oil from Indonesia for industrial production. As can be seen from the import statistics (https://www.reservesuisse.ch/datengrundlage or https://www.gate.ezv.admin.ch/swissimpex/public/bereiche/waren/query.xhtml), this has applied to all players in the Swiss Palm Oil Network, of which Migros is a member, since November 2020. The reason for this is that the importers of palm oil to Switzerland rely on long-standing supplier relationships and their commitment at origin is stable. The origins and quantities of all imports into Switzerland can be viewed on the website of the Swiss Palm Oil Network (https://palmoelnetzwerk.ch/engagement). The export ban on the part of Indonesia, with the aim of combating food inflation in the country, will apply from 28.4.2022 until further notice. Of course, this will have an impact on global supply chains. However, the physical effects can only be assessed, at least in part, in the coming weeks. However, the example of sunflower oil shows how interconnected supply chains are. This means that even if you do not source directly from a particular provenance, this can have an impact on your own supply chain if the failing provenance has a significant share of the global market. We cannot predict which country will impose which export restrictions to combat price inflation, as this is beyond our knowledge. However, in the current situation, the oil plants have informed the Federal Office for National Economic Supply as part of the periodic assessment that such export stops in the vegetable oil sector can be expected at any time. Furthermore, palm oil is an important source of food in Indonesia. Most of it remains in the country. It is therefore important for Switzerland and Western Europe in general to lead the way with examples of best practice and create incentives for organic farming with standards and high sustainability requirements. Of course, Migros also regularly checks the recipes of its products and adapts them where it is possible and makes sense. For example, Migros' own industry has already replaced palm oil in a large number of products in recent years. New products in which we do not use palm oil are constantly being added. However, it is also important to consider the other side of the coin: Palm oil is 5 to 10 times more productive than rapeseed or coconut oil, for example. This means that more land is required for cultivation. Switching to other oils is therefore not a sustainable solution. Scientific studies by the ETH and the WWF confirm that substituting palm oil does not protect the environment, but improving cultivation, standards and controls does. Migros is therefore considering both ways - avoiding and substituting where sensible and feasible, as well as ensuring and committing to the use of sustainably grown palm oil - as the viable way forward on this issue. I hope this information helps you. Best regards, Matteo
Oh Matteo, I can't take these links seriously, it's like asking the tobacco industry how harmful smoking is! But could you give me a source for your claim that most of the palm fat/oil has so far remained in Indonesia?
Oh Matteo, I can't take these links seriously, it's like asking the tobacco industry how harmful smoking is! But could you give me a source for your claim that most of the palm fat/oil has so far remained in Indonesia?
Hello Dänu, I have contacted the specialist department again and will be happy to tell you what they think: We at Migros have no interest in selling products containing palm oil, like the tobacco industry does with smokers. We want to offer the products that our customers want and at the same time take our responsibility towards people and the environment seriously. Indonesia is the largest country of production but also the largest market for palm oil. This can be seen, for example, in the following article from Finanz und Wirtschaft: Finanz und Wirtschaft, 08.12.2020 -Palm oil defies its image problem: https://www.fuw.ch/article/palmoel-trotzt-seinem-imageproblem/ (illustrations below). If you take a closer look at palm oil, you realize that there is no simple solution. Currently, import volumes to India, China and other emerging countries, where there are hardly any sustainability requirements, are increasing, while sales volumes to Europe are falling. This also reduces the incentives for more ecological production without deforestation and with decent working conditions for local communities. We will therefore see a greater impact if we work consistently for the sustainability of the palm oil we buy rather than just substituting it. Best regards, Mia
Hello Dänu, I have contacted the specialist department again and will be happy to tell you what they think: We at Migros have no interest in selling products containing palm oil, like the tobacco industry does with smokers. We want to offer the products that our customers want and at the same time take our responsibility towards people and the environment seriously. Indonesia is the largest country of production but also the largest market for palm oil. This can be seen, for example, in the following article from Finanz und Wirtschaft: Finanz und Wirtschaft, 08.12.2020 -Palm oil defies its image problem: https://www.fuw.ch/article/palmoel-trotzt-seinem-imageproblem/ (illustrations below). If you take a closer look at palm oil, you realize that there is no simple solution. Currently, import volumes to India, China and other emerging countries, where there are hardly any sustainability requirements, are increasing, while sales volumes to Europe are falling. This also reduces the incentives for more ecological production without deforestation and with decent working conditions for local communities. We will therefore see a greater impact if we work consistently for the sustainability of the palm oil we buy rather than just substituting it. Best regards, Mia
Thank you for your comments, Mia, for me this is one-sided propaganda of the first order, Migros is not allowed to make any differentiated statements for contractual reasons and therefore cannot add anything of substance to the discussion! If you check with truly independent sources, you will quickly come to the conclusion that sustainable palm oil/fat cannot be produced at all! But my question was actually about the source for one of Matteo's assertions, is this still to come or do you want to revise the assertion?
