20 November 2023
Conservation News

East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Catering Services team become a Champion of the local Sustainable Palm Oil Community

The council’s Catering Services team are now officially accredited as a champion of the sustainable palm oil community in Hull and East Yorkshire.

The team are committed to sourcing 100% traceable physical certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) and aim to use only CSPO from physical sources across all of their catering outlets at East Riding Leisure Centres, Bridlington Spa, Sewerby Hall, the Treasure House in Beverley (when it reopens), and County Hall.

Catering Services encourage all their suppliers to create a plan to source 100% CSPO across their operations, and carry out annual supplier audits. By doing so, the team know that they are helping to protect wildlife from the impact of unsustainable agricultural practices.

Palm oil is widely used in food, cosmetics, cleaning products and much more and is a very useful product – however, unsustainably produced palm oil causes harm to rainforests, river systems and the species which live there.

“It’s great news that our Catering Services team have become a champion of the sustainable palm oil community, as we work with organisations like The Deep in Hull to help do our bit to move the catering industry away from non-sustainable to Certified Sustainable Palm Oil.

“We are pledging to ensure that we only use Certified Sustainable Palm Oil and are encouraging our suppliers to do the same.”
Councillor Nick Coultish, Cabinet member for culture, leisure, and tourism
“We are delighted to have East Riding Council on board with the Sustainable Palm Oil Campaign for the Hull & East Riding region. To have such key partners in our area recognising the importance of making changes within their supply chains is fantastic.”

“Making conscious decisions to change what we purchase can lead to great benefits for species survival and the environment. We are excited to continue working closely alongside the Catering Team at East Riding Council as they continue to audit their supply chain.”
Katy Duke, Chief Executive Officer at The Deep