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The Colgate-Palmolive Company is a worldwide consumer products company known for its household, health care and personal care products, with global brands sold in over 200 countries and territories.
Colgate adopted a No Deforestation policy in March 2014 and became an Earthworm Foundation member the following year. In early 2016, Colgate began using the Engagement for Policy Implementation (EPI) tool to enhance progress on its supplier engagement and policy implementation. It also co-funded assessments with two suppliers in Ecuador and contributed to refinery transformation work in a major supplier’s supply shed in Indonesia.
During 2018-2019, Colgate scaled up transformation in strategic sourcing regions, with a focus on Indonesia. Please see the 'Our work' section below for more on this.
The current Earthworm Foundation-Colgate work plan focuses on the following objectives:
Colgate began tracing its derivatives supply and expanding its in-depth supplier engagement work via the Engagement for Policy Implementation programme (EPI) to its Thai suppliers. It also began supporting Earthworm’s Indonesian Landscape Initiative and funded a Centre for Social Excellence (CSE) training in Aceh Tamiang, Indonesia.
Colgate began publishing a mill list for its top palm oil suppliers. It also continued to support transformation activities in Indonesia, including the Indonesia Landscape Initiative, a Support for Transformation (SFT) mill training and Earthworm Foundation's flagship smallholder programme, Rurality.
Colgate achieved high levels of traceability to mill across the global palm oil supply chain: 100% for palm oil, 97% for palm kernel oil, and 53% for palm oil derivatives
Colgate is engaging 100% of its palm oil and palm kernel oil suppliers in the EPI programme, in order to understand direct supplier progress on No Deforestation policy compliance, and engage suppliers in dialogue and action planning.
Earthworm Foundation supports Colgate-Palmolive in adapting to an environment of increasingly shared responsibility across the palm oil industry by facilitating its efforts to trace its palm supply chains, engage its suppliers on the implementation of its responsible palm oil sourcing policy, and address instances of open grievances and high risk suppliers in its supply chain. This work enables Colgate to accurately and efficiently report on its efforts to meet expectations for transparency and industry-wide action.
Colgate in turn is supporting transformation through Earthworm initiatives that together represent a strategic and coordinated approach to on-the-ground change on key challenges in both its palm oil supply chain and in the greater palm industry. Colgate engages key suppliers on its own transformation activities, ensuring all nodes of the supply chain are held accountable for creating a sustainable palm industry.
During 2018-19 transformation activities have included:
- Smallholder engagement via Rurality in Indonesia;
- Areal Prioritas Transformasi (Landscapes) work in Indonesia;
- Centre of Social Excellence multi-stakeholder workshop in Aceh Tamiang
- Mill-level engagement through the Support for Transformation (SFT) model in Indonesia
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