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Confectionery Giant Ferrero Halts Use of Malaysian Palm Oil

The move by the Italian company – following similar halts by Hershey and General Mills – is a further reputational blow for Sime Darby and for Malaysia


Ferrero
Ferrero said it has asked its global suppliers to stop supplying palm oil and palm kernel oil from Sime Darby. Photo: Reuters.

 

Italian confectionery giant Ferrero said it will stop sourcing palm oil from Sime Darby Plantation after the US customs service found the Malaysian planter used forced labour.

“Ferrero will comply with the US Customs and Border Protection’s decision,” Ferrero, which uses palm oil its in Ferrero Rocher chocolates and Nutella spread, told Reuters by email.

It said it has asked its global suppliers to stop supplying palm oil and palm kernel oil from Sime Darby.

Although Ferrero buys relatively little of the edible oil from Sime Darby, its move – following similar halts by Hershey and General Mills Inc – is a further reputational blow for Sime Darby and for Malaysia, which faces mounting allegations of labour abuses of migrant workers in various industries.

Sime Darby said it has taken steps in the area of human rights and that all its stakeholders who are committed to sustainability can be assured of its commitment and leadership in the industry. Ferrero is not a customer, it added.

Ferrero said it does not buy directly from the Malaysian firm, which it said supplies 0.25% of its palm oil volumes.

Following a 2020 decision that indicated “forced labour indicators” at Sime Darby, US Customs and Border Protection said in January it had sufficient evidence that the firm’s goods are subject to seizure.

 

  • Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell

 

READ MORE:

Sime Darby Property Swings Back to Profit – New Straits Times

US Imposes 7th Ban on Malaysian Glovemakers over Forced Labour

Global Market Won’t Dictate Palm Oil Price, Says Indonesia

 

 

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George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.