Introduction
According to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) website, the WWF began exploring the possibility for an organization to examine the potential for sustainably produced palm oil back in 2001. The result was an “informal co-operation among Aarhus United UK Ltd, Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, Migros, Malaysian Palm Oil Association, Sainsbury's and Unilever together with WWF in 2002.”[1] Formally established in 2004 the RSPO was the result, according to authors Jens Hamprecht & Daniel Corsten in their article ‘Purchasing Strategies and Sustainability: The Migros Palm Oil Case, of a collaboration between the WWF and Migros back in early 2000 in order to “explore the possibility of a partnership for the creation of a sustainable palm oil supply chain.”[2] Since Migros is not mentioned more prominently in the history page of RSPO’s website, the question becomes how should Migros communicate its palm oil project to the public?
Case Study: Migros Palm Oil
Founded as a cooperative by Gottlieb Duttweiler in 1925, Mirgos has grown to become Switzerland’s largest retailer.[3] Following a newspaper article written in 1999, about the hardship of the native people of Borneo because of deforestation from both the timber and palm oil industries, Migros, which manufactures many of the products that it sells in its stores, decided to look into both mitigating the fallout of the article as well as look to gain some good will by exploring the possibility of sourcing sustainably grown palm oil for European sales. In the years that followed the first meeting between representatives of WWF International and Migros, the industry to make palm oil and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil have both grown more and more prominent. Since its inception, RSPO has established its Principles & Criteria (P&C) for certification of mills and plantations; ‘Formation of Working Groups on Green House Gases to address climate change issues; Smallholder Task Force to protect the rights of small farmers planting oil palm; and Biodiversity Technical Committee to work out biodiversity issues pertaining to sustainable production and biodiversity protection and conservation.’[4]
Communicating its successes
Detailed in the book ‘Case Studies in Sustainability Management and Strategy: The oikos collection’, “Migros followed three major approaches in communicating the palm oil project to the public. First, Migros granted the WWF and other NGOs to present its palm oil project as a role model for other businesses and to demonstrate its leadership role in the issue.”[5] “Backed by the public recognition that Migros now enjoyed for the palm oil project, Migros engaged in a second, more active approach to communicating the project: it reported about it in its own media.”[6] Finally, “Despite the campaign of the three global NGOs and the articles in Migros’ own media, Fausta Borsani was well aware that any reputational advantage of Migros could only be short-lived as “people easily forget”. Thus, it was agreed that a national poster campaign would follow. That poster Migros represented Migros’ third major approach in communicating the project.”[7] Despite the efforts made by Migros to publically disseminate its goals and successes as it relates to sustainable palm oil production, the key strategy for developing an industry standard, and by proxy, the work that Migros has made for sustainable palm oil remains the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil.[8]
Conclusion
Authors Jens Hamprecht and Daniel Corsten state that in the summer of 2002, “the WWF and Migros began preparations for an international roundtable of organizations interested in developing an industry standard.”[9] They go on to say that, “While both Migros and the WWF approached potential partners on an individual base as well as on conferences, care was taken not to let the preparatory roundtable appear as an event staged by Migros and the WWF.”[10] While some may note that Migros is not taking full advantage of the work it has done in development of a more sustainable palm oil industry, it is also important to realize that if Migros had taken more of a prominent role in the creation of standards and the RSPO in general, there may not have been as much growth in this industry. It is unclear if the intentions of the Migros leadership was truly benevolent when they decided to take a more passive public role in the role of RSPO. What is clear is that it may have been significantly more difficult to attract other companies into the ranks of the RSPO if it was perceived as a self-serving enterprise for Migros. Ultimately, as there could well have been some logical arguments made for not stepping aside during the initial growth of the RSPO, it may well have been the best for both Migros and the environment for the WWF and others to take the lead in the sustainable palm oil industry. Indeed such an action by Migros is in keeping with the highest standards and the core values of sustainability at large.
[1] http://www.rspo.org/?q=page/10 [2] Hamschmidt, Jost, ed. Case Studies in Sustainability Management and Strategy: The oikos collection. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing, 2007. Page 132. [3] Ibid, page 123 & 125. [4] http://www.rspo.org/?q=page/789 [5] Hamschmidt, Jost, ed. Case Studies in Sustainability Management and Strategy: The oikos collection. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing, 2007. Page 136. [6] Ibid, page 137. [7] Ibid. [8] Ibid, page 139. [9] Ibid. [10] Ibid.
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