Palm oil is estimated to be in around half of all packaged items found in supermarkets and is a common ingredient in margarine, biscuits, bread, breakfast cereal, instant noodles, shampoo, lipstick, candles, detergents, chocolate and ice cream. It is the most widely used vegetable oil on the planet, accounting for 65% of all vegetable oil traded internationally.

Palm oil plantations in south-east Asia have tripled in just a decade, driving deforestation, habitat loss and the destruction of communities across Indonesia and Malaysia. These plantations also have a large impact on greenhouse gas emissions because they are often established on land converted from swamp forests, which release carbon dioxide and methane when they are cleared.

Palm oil remains the most efficient source of vegetable oil, it has better yield, requires less fertilizer, pesticides, and energy input. While the alternatives such as soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower need as much as 6-10 times the amount of land to produce the same amount of oil