By:
Esther Meima, Sales Manager DAABON USA
DAABON maintains a strong
commitment
to working with 3rd party certification programs as a way to
ensure
that our stakeholders and communities have confidence in, and the
opportunity
to verify, our ethical growing and processing methods.
In fact, Daabon has been a
trendsetter in obtaining certifications for our agricultural crops for
decades.
For example, we were the first palm oil producer worldwide to achieve
organic
certification. And in the years since then, we have often collaborated
with non-profit
organizations such as the Rainforest Alliance to develop and support
additional
certifications to advocate for responsible and sustainable production
methods.
The Rainforest Alliance
certification
for palm oil was established more than ten years ago to support ethical
palm
production that protects both natural resources and human rights. As the
first
certified organic palm oil grower to achieve this certification, Daabon
has
deeply valued our partnership with the Rainforest Alliance to promote
sustainable palm production.
However, in 2021 the
Rainforest
Alliance announced that it will be phasing out its palm oil
certification in
order to focus on “smallholders in key productive landscapes.” Daabon is
sorry
to see the program be brought to a close, but we will proudly maintain
our Rainforest
Alliance certification until it officially ends on December 31, 2022.
At the same time, a new and
exciting
certification program has been gaining recognition—the Regenerative
Organic
Certified™ (ROC™) standard.
Daabon
is thrilled to be collaborating with the Regenerative Organic Alliance
to add
this important new certification to our portfolio. ROC™ seeks to “repair
a
damaged planet and empower farmers” by focusing on three key categories:
soil
health, animal welfare, and social fairness.
Founded in the United States
by
leaders in sustainability, ROC™ has quickly been gaining notable
recognition,
featured in articles by various renowned publications such as The
Washington
Post, Forbes and Vogue.
Daabon is actively in the
process of attaining
this certification for our organic palm oil products, and we expect to
finalize
our ROC™ status in 2022. We look forward to joining a growing community
of
forward-thinking producers, retail brands, and policymakers to support
the goal
of creating a “healthy planet with thriving people” through regenerative
agriculture.