Heaptalk, Jakarta – on Thursday (22/4), Indonesia WWF Foundation (WWF-ID), Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and the representative of palm oil’s entrepreneurs and consumers held a virtual sharing session by adopting the theme Smart Consumers 2021, Buying Ecolabeled Product: Manifest Sustainable Palm Oil Industry Through Consumers and Local Entrepreneurs Movement. The occasion was held as a part of ‘Beli Yang Baik’ Sustainable Consumption and Production Expo.
The discussion, initiated by WWF Indonesia and RSPO, discussed the importance of ecolabelling in sustainable palm oil products to embody the sustainable palm oil industry in Indonesia.
“Ecolabel is vital for consumers to allow them to recognise whether the palm oil products are sustainable and comply eco-friendly standards or not. The recognition will be the basic consideration for the consumer to buy a product,” stated Imam A. El Marzuq, RSPO Senior Manager Global Community Outreach and Engagement.
Previously, WWF-ID has compiled a special strategy and campaign to enhance the public’s demand for sustainable palm oil products. As a result, based on Daemeter’s survey in 2015, 71% of consumers approved to move to the sustainable palm oil product, where 27% between them agreed to pay more. In 2020, MarkPlus also recorded the enhancement of consumers’ interest to move to this product and disposed to buy the product with a higher price – rate between Rp1,200 to Rp6,700 – was significant.
“The great enhancement of public interest in purchasing the product should be answered by entrepreneurs through a concrete demonstration to the sustainable palm oil product, namely ecolabelling. Now, it is the time for business actors to capture the market’s demand to ecolabeled palm oil product,” uttered Aditya Bayunanda, Head of Footprint and Market Transformation at WWF Indonesia.
Nowadays, to respond to public demand, which gradually increases, the retail company also has an essential role in manifesting the smart consumption pattern in Indonesia.
“As one of the biggest retail company in Indonesia, Super Indo constantly conducts transformation to support any effort that upholds sustainable principles. We are striving to launch ecolabled palm oil products as a manifestation of our commitment to capture the market’s demand as well as promote sustainable consumption,” concluded Arya Kusumo, Super Indo Sustainability Department Head.
In addition, considering to the use of palm oil in daily necessities products, personal hygiene tools, food, cosmetics, and home appliances, it should be the strong reason that can drive people to deliver their aspiration to easily choosing and accessing sustainable palm oil products in the market. As the representation of young consumers, Dila Hadju invited people from all walks of life to prompt business actors from upstream to downstream to provides various colabeled sustainable palm oil products.
“Smart consumers also means consumers that be able to deliver good request, both in a form of direct or indirect request, towards the presence of these options so as people across the nation will be easier to consume the product,” told Dilla.
‘Buy A Good Things’ Sustainable Consumption and Production Expo was held to exhibit multiple innovations regarding sustainable production and consumption through the offline and online events. The event presents several virtual activities such as a talk show and workshop and the launching of beliyangbaik.org that provided enormous products that met the minimum criteria of a sustainable product.
To leverage sustainable palm oil consumption, Beli Yang Baik Campaign focused on information dissemination, education concerningsustainable palm oil products, and responsible consumption action with hashtag #BeliYangEkolabel and #BeriKamiPilihan.
