TFT is pleased to announce that Grupo Palmas is the first palm oil producing company in Latin America to become a TFT member. As the largest palm oil company in Peru, Grupo Palmas’ main activities include managing industrial plantations and producing crude and refined palm oil. This membership is the result of various work experiences and discussions on sustainability shared between Grupo Palmas and TFT over the past 18 months.

Today, TFT and Grupo Palmas are launching an ambitious partnership that aims to ensure that the production activities of Grupo Palmas create value for business, communities and the environment. Together, we have developed a one-year work plan that includes the launch of a responsible palm oil policy as a first step. The policy will include the protection of High Conservation Value/ High Carbon Stock/peat lands and respect for Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of local communities.

“We are excited to be members of TFT and we will begin our work with the launch of a responsible production policy on 31 March 2017, after a round of socialising the draft policy with our principal stakeholders,” said Renzo Balarezo, General Manager, Grupo Palmas. “We are convinced that sustainability will be our competitive advantage, and that the implementation of a clear policy will help us to value the efforts to produce palm responsibly. We believe that in Peru we can develop palm while respecting forests, smallholders, and local communities. This is our commitment.”

Given this ambition, TFT and Grupo Palmas will explore options to ensure the active conservation and responsible management of areas in the Peruvian Amazon, which were previously identified as expansion sites by the company. The goal is to embark on a collaborative process between TFT, Grupo Palmas, the Peruvian government, civil society and other international market actors, such as Nestlé. This represents a significant evolution in the trajectory of the company.

Other components of the plan include work with palm oil smallholders. The company is aiming for growth via solid relations with smallholders, and for this, Grupo Palmas will strengthen a work model that will put in practice, and imply, a close collaboration with smallholders, in order to build long-term relations and shared value. The plan also includes strengthening of processes for the prevention, identification, and resolution of conflicts.

TFT and Grupo Palmas are ready for the important challenges that will present themselves during the implementation of the responsible production policy. Grupo Palmas is committed to co-creating solutions with TFT and other relevant actors in order to make the responsible production policy a reality.

After the launch of the official policy, Grupo Palmas will be communicating a public version of the work plan and information about the progress it makes and challenges confronted. It will be posted on the member page.

TFT’s Renzo Verne has been working with Grupo Palmas. As part of our #PeopleOfPalmOil series we will be sharing an interview of Renzo talking about that work. In the meantime here is a trailer to that interview.