BASF lands coconut oil sourcing site certification, boosts clean label NPD
27 Jul 2022 --- With the certification of BASF’s production site in Cassina Rizzardi, Italy, BASF is the “first” chemical company to offer certified environmentally sustainable coconut oil-based personal care ingredients in line with its Care 360° program for environmental sustainability.
Coconut oil is an essential raw material in the chemical industry. BASF utilizes coconut oil to make cosmetics, detergents and cleaning agents, as well as culinary additives.
The Rainforest Alliance Mass Balance Coconut certification system was used to certify the company, and Jutta Stute, sustainability manager in BASF’s care chemicals division says that with the certification of the company’s first production site and the certified personal care ingredients BASF has “established another supply chain based on renewables.”
“We have thus taken an important step in transforming the market toward certified, sustainably sourced oleochemicals,” she says.
This initiative aims to boost smallholder coconut farmers’ income and economic self-sufficiency.Training tropically
BASF is active in a number of programs aimed at increasing the proportion of natural components in its portfolio, as well as improving the environmental sustainability of agricultural operations and the well-being of farmers and workers.
The goal of this specific initiative was to boost smallholder coconut farmers’ income and economic self-sufficiency in the Philippines and Indonesia, by developing a sustainable certified coconut oil supply chain.
More than 4,100 coconut farmers were taught agricultural practices, good processing practices as well as farm management between November 2015 and October 2018. Approximately 1,600 farmers received extra training and were certified under the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard.
Farmers who received training and certification earned a 47% higher income than farmers who did not participate in the program.
Partnerships to combat challenges
Certified environmentally sustainably sourced coconut oil is part of how BASF’s Care Chemicals Division is addressing future challenges.
Sustainability, digitization, innovation and new ways of working together are essential pillars of Care 360°, BASF’s solutions for living an environmentally sustainable life.
BASF utilizes coconut oil in the personal care industry to make cosmetics.
The certification of coconut oil was made possible by a development partnership between BASF, Cargill, P&G and the German government agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GIZ, with strong support from the Rainforest Alliance and the Philippine Coconut Authority.
Coconuts in the beauty industry
Unilever recently planted 3,300 hectares of mini Genjah Kuning Bali: coconut trees with a shorter growth span, native to Indonesia. The initiative aims to sustain a good harvest for local farmers in Indonesia and meet food, drink and beauty product demands currently under threat.
Coconut trees grow up to 30 meters high and are often dangerous for local farmers to climb and harvest the fruit. As a result, many of the plantations have been abandoned.
As the trees grow, their sap flow declines, meaning they present fewer nutrients and water. These older trees need to be replaced with healthier saplings. The company aims to draw half of its coconut sugar supply from this new variety of trees by 2026.
Edited by Mieke Meintjes
