RNS Number : 4298A
New Britain Palm Oil Limited
08 October 2009
8 October 2009
NEW BRITAIN PALM OIL LIMITED
("NBPOL" or the "Company")
SIGNS SUPPLY AGREEMENT WITH FERRERO
New Britain Palm Oil Limited (LSE: NBPO), a large scale integrated industrial producer of palm oil in Australasia, is pleased to announce today that, via its sole agent Pacific Rim Plantation Services Pte Ltd, it has entered into a five year supply agreement to provide Ferrero, a world leading confectionery company, with significant quantities of sustainably produced palm oil.
Ferrero, like NBPOL, has a high regard for the importance of sustainability, including social, ethical and environmental responsibilities, and both companies remain active in improving their performance in this regard. NBPOL also has an international reputation for leading the plantation industry in all aspects of plantation management.
NBPOL's operations in West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea are certified as conforming to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil's (RSPO) Principles and Criteria on sustainability.
Crucially, the agreement with Ferrero is direct with an end user of NBPOL's products, rather than with an industrial intermediary. The agreement enables Ferrero to gain better control of its supply chain and enables NBPOL to specifically tailor its products for a major consumer.
Ferrero is renowned for producing high quality confectionery using the finest of raw materials, with an artisan's attention to detail and respect and care for the consumer and environment. These attributes have helped to make its confectionery products (global brands such as Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, Nutella and Tic-Tac) highly successful and loved around the world, also making Ferrero the world's most reputable company of 2009 according to the "Global Reputation Pulse" survey conducted by the Reputation Institute of New York.
The agreement will enable NBPOL to supply Ferrero with palm oil products originating from its fresh, high quality, sustainable crude palm oil ("CPO"). As part of the agreement, NBPOL has committed to investing in the refining equipment necessary to produce the required palm oil products in Papua New Guinea.
Nick Thompson, Chief Executive of NBPOL, commented:
"New Britain Palm Oil is very pleased to be supplying such a highly regarded and successful global confectionery group as Ferrero. NBPOL and Ferrero have a similar high regard and respect for the environment and both companies recognise the growing demand among consumers for companies that source ethically and sustainably produced products.
Ferrero has an excellent reputation for quality and are well known for only selecting suppliers that can offer the best materials and service. At New Britain, we are delighted to be working with Ferrero to supply them, for the long term, with our sustainable palm oil products and developing the relationship further."
Alessandro Cagli, Corporate Social Responsibility Director for the Ferrero Group, said:
"Not only does this supply agreement with New Britain underline Ferrero's commitment to sourcing ethically and sustainably produced raw materials, wherever possible, but it also emphasises our dedication to selecting only the finest quality materials for the confectionery products enjoyed by our consumers worldwide.
We at Ferrero are delighted to be working with NBPOL in this important new venture to supply us with sustainably produced palm oil."
Enquiries:
Website: http://www.nbpol.com.pg/
Website: http://www.ferrero.com/eng/index.html
Website: http://www.pacrim-oils.com/
Notes to editors
New Britain Palm Oil Limited is a large scale integrated industrial producer of sustainable palm oil in Australasia and is headquartered in Papua New Guinea ('PNG'). It has over 44,500 hectares of planted palm oil plantations and long term leases over 30,000 hectares of additional land, some of which will be converted to palm oil, six oil mills, a refinery and a seed production and plant breeding facility. The Company is quoted on both the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and on the Port Moresby Stock Exchange in PNG.
NBPOL is fully vertically integrated, producing its own seed (which it also sells globally) and planting, cultivating and harvesting its own land and processing and refining palm oil. It also contracts directly with its end customers in the EU and arranges shipping of its products.
NBPOL has high regard for the importance of its sustainability credentials and is active in proving its performance.
The FERRERO GROUP, based in Italy and Luxembourg, has 36 operating companies, 18 factories and over 20.000 employees worldwide. The company reported a consolidated turnover in excess of 6 billion Euros for the 2006/2007 financial year.
Very high quality, artisanal attention to details, freshness of products, a selection of the finest raw materials, respect and care for the consumer: these are the Ferrero keywords and values that have made brands like Kinder, Nutella, Tic-Tac and Rocher known and loved by millions of consumers worldwide.
New Britain Palm Oil Limited,Ferrero Trading Lux SA and Pacific Rim Plantation Services Pte Ltd are members of the RSPO.
Website: http://www.rspo.org/
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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