New Britain Palm Oil is on a mission to benefit people, prosperity and more impressively, the planet, but how does one company plan to make a huge impact? Endeavour spoke to Dr. Simon lord, Group Sustainability Director, to find out.

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New Britain Palm Oil is one such company as Dr. Simon Lord, the Group Sustainability Director, explains,

“For this generation, sustainability is a direction not a destination and only successive generations can determine whether our actions were truly sustainable. For the present we continue to build the foundation as a legacy for the future.”

A company looking to the future of humanity, not just their own business endeavours? A rare thing indeed, but as we delve deeper into the organisation as a whole, this approach becomes less surprising and more applaudable.

An ingredient in one in ten of all products in a supermarket, palm oil is a natural, cholesterol-free substance similar to vegetable oil that is commonly found in kitchen cupboards. Highly adaptable, it is often used in the production of everyday items such as margarine, ice cream and even beauty products and yet it has come under fire in recent years.

Concerns over palm oil production have been shown to be fruitless and when compared with other, common oil crops, such as soy, has demonstrated impressive yield. For example, one hectare of palm oil crops is equivalent to ten times that amount of soy, making palm the clear choice for forest conservation concerns, not to mention fiscal return.

Keen to implement ever-more sustainable production techniques, New Britain Palm Oil is diligent in its efforts to say abreast of any new developments. Dr. Simon Lord explained further and talked about how the company exclusively operates from Asia pacific,

“Our company headquarters are in the West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, where we have a refinery and the main bulking terminal and our plantation operations are in 5 other provinces throughout Papua New Guinea and also in the Solomon Islands. On each site, we have estates and smallholdings as well as

mills and storage facilities. At the other end of our supply chain, in the UK, we have the world’s first palm oil refinery built to deal with 100% sustainable palm oil.”

Despite focusing on a sustainable approach, profitability has not suffered, with 2011 reporting US$ 780 million in pre-tax profits and thanks to being listed on both the London and Port Moresby Stock Exchanges, locals are able to easily buy shares and partake in the success. Interestingly, the West New Britain Government is the second largest shareholder, which offers locals peace of mind that they will benefit from the company prosperity. It seems incredible, given recent worldwide financial difficulties, that the company is enjoying such success, but Dr. Simon Lord confirms that they are,

“Despite a drop in oil prices and the turbulent global economic environment, we are still on the growth path,”

So, far from merely riding out the storm, the company is actually able to predict growth. What is the secret to its success? The answer lies in the maintaining of its own plantations, spanning an impressive 78,000 hectares and the 15,000 smallholders who work alongside the organisation. With 11 crude palm oil mills in full operation and a workforce of more than 25,000, it soon becomes clear that there is no secret to the success of New Britain Palm Oil, it is all down to hard work and dedication, an unenviable tricky task when coupled with a desire for sustainability,

“Our main refinery, New Britain Oils, is based in Liverpool, in the UK, where the focus is on delivering segregated, traceable and certified sustainable food ingredients to end customers based in the EU.”

Dr. Simon Lord goes on to explain that,“It wasn’t until 2007 that the concept of a sustainability

standard for palm oil was officially achieved.”The Round Table of Sustainable Palm Oil oversee company

compliance with the stringent standards in place to ensure the

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We are all aware that sustainability has become a global concern for businesses from every industry, but for some, it is far more than just another buzzword. For a select few, actively striving for sustainability is at the very core of everyday company activities, permeating each new project and taking a central role in the development of new services and ideas.

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continued sustainability of palm oil products and seeks to identify those organisations that are consistently striving for improvements, such as New Britain Palm Oil, which has been an active member since the inception of the group in 2002. Discussing the standards being upheld, Dr. Simon Lord comments that,

“We identified 8 pillars which define sustainability and then strengthen these principles with a further 39 criteria, which gave each Principle a context. Finally we added about 150 indicators to the standard, which allowed performance to be measured”

Serious measures indeed, but are they fully necessary?“It is these key performance indicators which make the standard

so robust and give it depth, whist the 8 rrinciples (transparency, adherence to legislation, economic viability, good agricultural practice, environmental stewardship, social consideration, sustainable development and continuous improvement) that give the standard its breadth.”

In short, yes. If a company wants to be producing truly sustainable products that will not impact negatively on the future, then these criteria need to be met, if not surpassed continuously, something that New Britain Palm Oil appears to manage effortlessly, but there is a lot going on under the façade of easy adherence. Even meeting

all requisite standards is not enough, they have to be upheld for a minimum of one year and improved upon the next, to prevent stagnation.

Taking roughly two years to become fully compliant with all sustainability standards and practices means that organisations necessarily need to plan ahead if this is a route that they wish to take. Ahead of its time, New Britain Palm Oil was already making inroads into sustainability, prior to the Round Table being brought into existence and even became one of the first plantation organisations to achieve ISO14001 status for environmental management, as Dr. Simon Lord explains,

“Our early plantation managers were particularly forward thinking and inventive. Land was cleared, without the use of fire and to this day NBPOL still maintains this no burn policy. We have gone on to avoid planting on peat and clear primary forests or any other High Conservation Value land and it is these significant early moves that puts us well ahead of the game in terms of sustainability and to subsequently help reduce our carbon footprint.”

Taking responsibility for everyone that is taken under the company wing, the organisation seeks to educate all smallholders and workers about such practices, ensuring that its positive

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influence and adaptability extends as far as possible. More than this, the company’s commitment to people is constantly demonstrated by the foundation specifically set up to offer community outreach and support.

The future looks exciting for New Britain Palm Oil, especially in terms of recognition within the industry, as Sime Darby, from Malaysia, has reportedly offered a premium price to buy the organisation. Recognised as a “low risk, well-managed business concern”, New Britain is considered as the perfect acquisition for Sime Darby and the board has been emphatic in recommending the merger to shareholders.

These days it can seem somewhat trite for large companies to claim that they care about people, the environment and providing a sustainable future, but few can truly back up these hollow commitments. In the case of New Britain Palm Oil however, every facet of the company is geared solely towards the sustainability and environmental stewardship that has become so vital to big business. By operating alongside stringent standards and protocols, as well as actively educating both staff and associates, this is one company that is not just providing for the world we live in now, but also preparing for the future.

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