Fonterra and Greenpeace will meet next week to discuss concerns about palm kernel expeller and major fires in Indonesia.
An Indonesian girl working at a palm oil plantation in Indonesia. Photo: AFP
Greenpeace is accusing the dairy co-operative of being directly linked to deforestation in Indonesia through the importation of palm kernel expeller or PKE, which is used primarily as a supplementry feed in the dairy industry.
Fonterra said it was a member of the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil and it sourced PKE through Wilmar International, which has a 'No deforestation, no exploitation' policy.
However, Greenpeace said that was not credible enough. The organisation recently released a report linking Wilmar to deforestation in Kalimantan.
A Fonterra spokesperson said chief executive Theo Spierings would meet Greenpeace's New Zealand executive director Russel Norman next Friday.
Fonterra said it was organising a representative from Wilmar International to be at the meeting as well.