The iconic Australian confectionery company Darrell Lea has declared its products are 100 per cent palm oil free, claiming it is the first major supermarket brand to do so.
The confectioner said its Sydney and Melbourne factories had started replacing palm oil across the entire range with the new 100 per cent palm oil free products hitting shelves this week. By November, all products in supermarkets will be palm oil free, it said.
For the company’s new CEO and chair James Ajaka, it is what the company’s tag line – Darrell Lea Makes it Better – truly means.
“This is an initiative that the team has been working on well before my arrival. The tireless work behind each and every product to make this happen can’t be underestimated.”
He said the team and all the suppliers should be “immensely proud”.
Darrell Lea marketing director Tim Stanford said it had taken two years to complete, with more than 200 individual ingredients and 100 product changes in the process.
Stanford said: “As a business we wanted to do the right thing. In recent years, our customers have told us that they don’t want palm oil in our products. We listened and we took action finding a great alternative in sunflower oil. It doesn’t affect the taste, look or feel of our products.”
Darrell Lea will also redesign packaging with a stand-out new logo and clear ingredient listing. Current Australian labelling laws mean that palm oil doesn’t have to be included on product packaging, often called vegetable oil or vegetable fat.
“There is no doubt that palm oil production causes major devastation to rainforests and endangered animals, such as the orangutan.
“We call on all businesses, not only in the confectionery industry but across the board, to look into their supply chain and make better decisions about the ingredients they use,” Stanford said.
