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Abstract

This case is about consumer food giant PepsiCo’s ethical dilemma related to conflict palm oil. Palm oil is a key ingredient that goes into the company’s snack foods. Over the years, the demand for palm oil had increased sharply as it was one of the cheapest vegetable oils available on the global market with no transfats. The rise in demand was linked to large-scale deforestation across South East Asia. The case explores the impact of Conflict Palm Oil on the environment and how it is tied to deforestation, human rights violations, and climate pollution, adding to global warming emissions and reducing habitat for many already threatened species. PepsiCo has been targeted by a broad number of environmental groups for its continued use of large quantities of Conflict Palm Oil in its snack foods. As the global palm oil industry was fast approaching a tipping point it was high time PepsiCo worked to realize zero deforestation in its operations and supply chain. Given its global scale and influence PepsiCo could play crucial role in eliminating Conflict Palm Oil from the global palm oil supply chain. Going forward, the question before PepsiCo was what the company could do to ensure its supply chain is free from Conflict Palm oil. How could it assure consumers that the snack products did not come at the expense of the environment? With Conflict Palm Oil being such a critical issue right, how could PepsiCo ensure that its commitment go far enough to enact change? This case is meant for MBA students as a part of their Corporate Sustainability/ Business Ethics/ Corporate Social Responsibility curriculum. It can be also used in the Operations Management/ Supply Chain Management curriculum
Locations:
Size:
Very large
Other setting(s):
2014-2016

About

Abstract

This case is about consumer food giant PepsiCo’s ethical dilemma related to conflict palm oil. Palm oil is a key ingredient that goes into the company’s snack foods. Over the years, the demand for palm oil had increased sharply as it was one of the cheapest vegetable oils available on the global market with no transfats. The rise in demand was linked to large-scale deforestation across South East Asia. The case explores the impact of Conflict Palm Oil on the environment and how it is tied to deforestation, human rights violations, and climate pollution, adding to global warming emissions and reducing habitat for many already threatened species. PepsiCo has been targeted by a broad number of environmental groups for its continued use of large quantities of Conflict Palm Oil in its snack foods. As the global palm oil industry was fast approaching a tipping point it was high time PepsiCo worked to realize zero deforestation in its operations and supply chain. Given its global scale and influence PepsiCo could play crucial role in eliminating Conflict Palm Oil from the global palm oil supply chain. Going forward, the question before PepsiCo was what the company could do to ensure its supply chain is free from Conflict Palm oil. How could it assure consumers that the snack products did not come at the expense of the environment? With Conflict Palm Oil being such a critical issue right, how could PepsiCo ensure that its commitment go far enough to enact change? This case is meant for MBA students as a part of their Corporate Sustainability/ Business Ethics/ Corporate Social Responsibility curriculum. It can be also used in the Operations Management/ Supply Chain Management curriculum

Settings

Locations:
Size:
Very large
Other setting(s):
2014-2016

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