Palm oil protestors force Pepsi True off Amazon

Pepsi True was temporarily removed from Amazon last night after environmentalists left thousands of bad reviews because of PepsiCo's palm oil policies which "encourage deforestation and modern slavery".


The new soft drink, which is sold exclusively on Amazon.com, has been reinstated on the website but the product now has more than 3,000 one-star ratings – making up 96% of all product reviews.

It comes off the back of continued campaigning against Pepsi’s “irresponsible” use of palm oil from Greenpeace and consumer activist group SumofUs.

“Pepsi wants to hide its rainforest destruction, wants to delete its association with human rights abuses, wants to scrub away any connection it has to the extinction of the world’s last Sumatran tigers and Borneo orangutans,” said SumOfUs campaign director Kaytee Riek.

“But PepsiCo can’t hide – not from the destruction that it refuses to eliminate from its supply chain.”

The Pepsi True customer response section on Amazon:

Palm oil pledges

Several major food and drink producers have signed up to sustainable palm oil commitment this year, including Unilever, Dunkin’ Donuts and Mondolez.

In its most recent sustainability report, Pepsi – which uses 450,000 tons of palm oil annually – said it had signed up to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2010, and committed to sourcing 100% sustainable palm oil by 2015.

 Responding to the activist campaign, PepsiCo told edie: “Pepsi True was subject to an orchestrated effort to post inaccurate information about our product and PepsiCo’s palm oil policy. 

“Our critics would be hard pressed to find many companies who have taken PepsiCo’s holistic approach to land policy, forest stewardship and responsible sourcing.

But activists have dismissed these measures, with Riek from SumOfUs adding: “Pepsi could be a leader in sustainability, could rise above its competitors and do the right thing, but instead it has relied on half measures and a commitment with gaps big enough to drive a bulldozer through.

“When consumers can interact with brands in such an immediate and direct way, at least they’ll have to rethink their policies first.”

Brad Allen

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