KTC Edibles, one of Britain’s largest independent distributor of edible oils, is now offering only 100% segregated certified sustainable palm oil to its customers.
This marks the successful achievement of its 2019 pledge to switch to RSPO-certified sustainable segregated palm oil by the end of 2022, after signing up to the RSPO Shared Responsibility Initiative. Previously, the company had offered a selection of certified sustainable options, including segregated and Mass Balance (a mix of uncertified and certified palm oil), alongside a smaller quantity of non-certified palm.
Over the last three years, KTC has been phasing out the remainder of these non-certified and lower certification palm products, replacing them with certified segregated sustainable options. To drive this transition, the company has been engaging with and educating customers on the benefits of sustainable alternatives, developing new products and proactively encouraging them to make the switch.
Gary Lewis, chief commercial officer at KTC, said: “We recognise the social and environmental impact of our business and wider supply chain. Palm oil can be a truly sustainable option, as long as it’s grown in a responsible manner – and today, 100% of the palm we offer is RSPO certified segregated sustainable.
“We’re really proud to have achieved the milestone on schedule – and it’s the blueprint for the future direction of the KTC brand. We will continue to make improvements on sustainable palm while working hard to improve the sustainability credentials of other key commodities.”
Achieving this milestone has been key to KTC’s wider sustainability plans. The company has been investing heavily in leading the way on sustainable sourcing to achieve a greener future for the oil and fat industry, from farms and plantations to manufacturing and delivery. In addition to actively promoting sustainable practice across all its palm oil suppliers, the company has specific goals in place for traceability. These include having traceability back to 100% of the mills used in its supply chain and plans to increase its traceability back to the plantation from 23% to 50% over the next 12 months.
KTC Edibles operates sites in Wednesbury and Liverpool and supplies more than 250m litres of cooking oils a year to customers across the food industry.
