Due to widespread consumer protests, Cadbury New Zealand will eliminate palm oil from its dairy milk chocolate products, reports the New Zealand Herald.
The candy-maker started using palm oil earlier this year as a cost savings measure, but the move resulted in a call for a boycott by environmentalists who said that palm oil production damages rainforests, reports the newspaper.
Concerns that Cadbury chocolate could be threatening orangutans led the Auckland Zoo and others to ban Cadbury products, reports Mongabay.com. The zoo said it will reinstate Cadbury's palm oil-free chocolate as soon as it becomes available, according to the Web site.
The company said production will resume in a few weeks.
However, the protest raises questions about the palm oil industry, which has been working with green groups to establish environmental standards for palm oil production, reports Mongabay.com. Companies that have pledged to use only sources of sustainable palm oil are now questioning if these efforts are enough to win customers in markets where environmental concerns are big factors in their buying decisions, according to the article.
