What is Nestlé doing to ensure palm oil is sourced responsibly?

Nestlé’s position on palm oil

We use palm oil in some Nestlé products because it works well in many recipes. Palm oil is a cost-competitive, versatile and widely produced vegetable oil requiring less land than any other oilseed crop, including soy, sunflower, rapeseed and coconut. When responsibly sourced, it can support millions of livelihoods and reduce pressure on forests and sensitive ecosystems.

We buy three quarters of our palm oil supply from Malaysia and Indonesia, with smaller volumes from Latin America and West Africa.

How about palm oil and health?

Nestlé uses refined palm oil as an ingredient in a number of products. We meet and often go beyond, all relevant food safety regulations and laws, wherever we operate.

When eaten as part of a healthy diet, foods made using palm oil (such as bouillons, fried noodles, doughs, chocolate coatings or ice cream) typically make up only a small contribution to our daily intake of saturated fats and are not a health risk.

Nestlé has significantly reduced saturated fats in many of our products since adopting a corporate policy (pdf, 2Mb) on this in 2009. Our objective is to reduce saturated fats by 10% in products that do not meet strict nutritional standards, to support the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation that only 10% of calories should come from saturated fats.

We are addressing concerns about MCPD esters in refined palm oils and other refined vegetable oils by working with our suppliers to ensure that levels are as low as possible.

What is Nestlé doing to ensure responsibly sourced palm oil?

Nestlé is working to increase the proportion of responsibly sourced palm oil by ensuring suppliers comply with our Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements (pdf, 2Mb). In 2025, 100% of our crude palm oil and palm kernel oil was either RSPO-certified or covered by CSPO/CSPKO book-and-claim credits, and 96.3% of our primary palm oil supply chain was assessed as deforestation-free.

This has provisions to help protect peatland and high-carbon stock forests, which are critical in combating climate change, and for preventing social conflict arising from potential disputes over land rights.

All our suppliers must comply with local laws and regulations under our Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements. Deforestation-free means the commodities in scope were assessed as produced on land not subject to deforestation or conversion after a cut-off date that varies by commodity, but no later than December 31, 2020. They must respect the free, prior and informed consent of local and indigenous communities, and protect high-carbon-value forests and peatlands.

Responsible sourcing starts by knowing where our ingredients come from. For more than 10 years we have used a combination of supply chain mapping, certification, satellite monitoring and on-the-ground assessments to assess and address deforestation and human and land rights risks.

We also assess and address labor rights risks in our supply chain through our palm oil labor action plan (pdf, 370Kb). As part of this plan, Nestlé has developed a framework that will help the company prioritize supplier engagement and take action based on suppliers' risk profile and their capacity to address labor rights issues.

Nestlé achieved its goal of sourcing 100% RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil in 2023 and continues to maintain this level today.

What are you doing to end deforestation in your palm oil supply chain?

We are working towards a deforestation-free palm oil supply chain. In 2025, 96.3% of the total volume of palm oil that we sourced was assessed as deforestation-free.

Working with our suppliers, we’re improving traceability standards to understand exactly where our palm oil comes from. For more than 10 years we have used a combination of supply chain mapping, certification, satellite monitoring and on-the-ground assessments to assess and address deforestation and human and land rights risks.

In September 2018, we became the first global food company to implement Starling, a satellite-based service developed by Airbus and Earthworm Foundation, to monitor our global palm oil supply chains. We have published a Palm Oil Transparency Dashboard, which uses data from Starling to provide information on deforestation trends seen near the palm oil mills where we source.

How do you help to stop forced labor and human rights abuses?

Human rights abuses are an inherent risk of companies’ supply chain. We need strong, collective action to address them and raise cross-industry standards. Working with others, Nestlé is committed to help ending such abuses and ensuring responsible labor practices.

If we become aware of allegations concerning a palm oil mill or plantation in our supply chain, we investigate and engage our direct suppliers to address the situation swiftly, developing an action plan where needed.

We wanted a better understanding of actual and potential labor impacts in Indonesia, and developed recommendations on the role Nestlé, and other industry players (government, civil society, certification bodies, international organizations and palm oil buyers), should play.

In November 2017, we announced a collaboration with Sime Derby Plantation (SDP) in Malaysia, to launch a worker’s helpline, as a grievance mechanism to help them report human and labor rights abuses.

Find out more

• Read more about responsible sourcing of palm oil
• Read more about our Forest Positive strategy
• Read the Nestlé Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements (pdf, 2Mb)
• Find the latest document on our responsible sourcing activities: palm oil sourcing 2021 (pdf, 570Kb)