Estée Lauder, BASF & the RSPO new partnership

BASF, The Estée Lauder Companies and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) are partnering with the civil society organization Solidaridad to promote sustainable palm oil and palm derivatives production in the district of Waykanan, Lampung, Indonesia.

The project is a smallholder support programme, encouraging suppliers at the start of the supply chain to adopt best practice when it comes to sustainable palm oil production.

The project’s target is that a minimum of one-third of the supported smallholder farmers become certified according to the Smallholder Standard of RSPO at the end of three years.

It offers continuous education and technical support on implementing and maintaining sustainable palm oil practices.

Estée Lauder’s participation​

Estée Lauder, one of the leading international manufacturers in beauty, is a key participant in the partnership.

“We are thrilled to partner with BASF and Solidaridad on this important initiative to support Indonesian smallholder farmers,” said Greg Polcer, Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain, at The Estée Lauder Companies.

“So many livelihoods in this community are inextricably tied to the production and we support ensuring that it is produced sustainably – both for the long-term benefit to the environment and for the long-term benefit to the community itself.”

Supporting smallholders the key to sustainable palm oil?​

The partnership emphasises the large minority of palm oil production that comes from smallholder practices, meaning tapping into these and fostering best practice among smallholder enterprises is crucial if palm oil can ever be said to be sustainable in a meaningful way.

“Approximately 40 percent of the world palm production comes from smallholder farmers who rely on it for their livelihoods,” said Daniele Piergentili, Vice President, Home and Personal Care at BASF in North America.

“The partnership with Estée Lauder, Solidaridad and RSPO enables us to support these farmers and at the same time increase the availability of sustainably produced palm oil.”

The project partners are collaborating with the Indonesian government to foster a sustainable palm oil production supply chain in Lampung free from deforestation and competitive in the global market, while increasing the social and economic benefits for farmers.