Many of us have started 2018 with new resolutions to go greener and become more responsible consumers.  The good news is that Woolworths starts the year off helping us to make better beauty choices.  The new range of Woolworths WBeauty soap bars are the very first South African products to be made with palm oil which has been RSPO certified sustainable.

Due to its quality, good foaming, structure and performance, palm oil is the oil of choice when it comes to making soap bars.  However, the rising global demand for palm oil over the past decades has had negative impacts on people and the planet as vast tracts of tropical forests have been cleared for the establishment of oil palm plantations.  The critically endangered Sumatran orangutan, tiger and rhino have come under threat in this process, igniting consumer demand for sustainable palm oil production that protects wildlife, habitat and family farmers, mainly in Asia.

“It’s important for the Woolies customer to enjoy all the benefits of using products that contain palm oil while having the peace of mind that their purchases are contributing to sustainable solutions for people and the planet,” says Woolworths Beauty Technical & Sourcing Manager, Deshi Moodley. “We’ve started with our WBeauty soaps because they contain the highest percentage of palm oil.  Customers will now notice the logo of RSPO, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil https://rspo.org/ on the packaging of our new range, and this is their guarantee that the palm oil used is certified as sustainable.  Where RSPO standards are upheld, palm oil production can reduce additional deforestation, lift vulnerable rural families out of poverty and significantly change the course of their future generations.”

Palm oil is a common ingredient in many other beauty, cosmetic and food products, and Woolies won’t be stopping at soap bars.  The retailer has a 2020 Good Business Journey target to use only certified sustainable palm oil in all its products.  “In the meantime,” Moodley adds, “our RSPO-certified beauty soap bars will give South African customers a new choice to rather support a sustainable palm oil industry.”

Woolworths efforts to enable consumers to make sustainable palm oil choices is line with its other Good Beauty Journey initiatives that include Beauty Without Cruelty certification across all beauty ranges and the removal of plastic microbeads from all products.