ASD Member Profile: CREMER OLEO: ‘ASD helps us improve our processes by being directly active in the cultivation regions’

Steffen Mainzer is a member of CREMER OLEO’s sustainability team

CREMER OLEO has taken another big step in its sustainability journey by becoming a member of Action for Sustainable Derivatives (ASD). “This will make our supply chains even more traceable and enable us to respond to grievances even faster,” says the company.

Here, Steffen Mainzer, a member of CREMER OLEO’s sustainability team, explains what the organization can expect from its partnership with ASD.

It is impossible to imagine CREMER OLEO's day-to-day work without striving for greater sustainability. What role does the collaboration with the ASD membership play now?

It’s true that we’re permanently working on building a sustainable business, but at the same time we see where the limits of our possibilities as an independent supply chain services company lie. The market for OLEO derivatives is highly interconnected globally. Tracking each shipment completely and securely to all plantations and oil mills is a huge task. ASD helps us improve our processes, for example, by being directly active in the cultivation regions.

Does that really make a difference to conditions on the ground?

We are convinced of this - and it’s a point that is very important to us. If it comes to our attention today that a plantation is not working in a way that meets our guidelines, we can engage with it and drive change. If we are one of many customers, this will hardly change anything on site, so we are very realistic about our market position. But if more and more major companies join forces in the ASD initiative, we will have much stronger leverage and together we can actively push for real change.

What does sustainability mean for CREMER OLEO’s supply chains?

Like ASD, we aim to be guided by the internationally-recognized NDPE Policy: No deforestation, no peat, no exploitation. This means no further burning of forests, no new plantations on peatlands and no exploitation of workers, local communities or small-scale farmers in the production of agricultural commodities. In this way, we are following the UN climate goals to which CREMER is committed.

What are the concrete benefits for your customers?

In the future, we will be able to more securely ensure that our goods and supply chains meet our customers’ requirements. Transactions are easier to track, and we can respond to complaints comprehensively and, above all, more quickly than before.

All our customers have their own sustainability goals, and they approach us with their requirements. With our commitment to the ASD mission, the quality of our goods is verifiable at all times and no longer has to be requested and confirmed individually. This is not only good for our future and our conscience - it also brings real efficiency gains for everyone involved.