Investigating the Palm Oil Supply Chain at Oxford Brookes University's Headington Campus in Order to Examine the Geographies of Sustainable Palm Oil Production

Exploring the presence/absence of palm oil in Oxford Brookes’ Headington Campus restaurants, assessing the sustainability of its sources, and examining the wider procurement policy implications. This paper aims to understand the presence/absence of palm oil in Oxford Brookes’ Headington Campus restaurants, assess the sustainability of its sources and examine the wider procurement policy implications. Oxford Brookes was the first ‘fair trade university’ in 2003, and has a commitment to sustainability. The lack of literature on traceability of palm oil demands research to better understand the palm oil supply chain in UK organisations such as universities. Palm oil is in over 50% of prepared food in the UK and is the most produced and consumed vegetable oil in the world (WWF, 2017). Palm oil has serious effects on the environment and ecosystems in regions where it is produced, and a number of organisations exist with varying aims and requirements on sustainable palm oil. Firstly, this research will trace the palm oil in the Oxford Brookes’ supply chain and identifying the geographic region from where the palm oil was sourced and whether it is sourced sustainably or not. Secondly, the presence/absence of sustainable and conventional (i.e. non-sustainable) palm oil in the Oxford Brookes supply chain will be explained. Here, things to explore include why Oxford Brookes has a sustainable policy, whether the university has chosen to reduce palm oil from their supply chain and source from other vegetable oils. Data will also be obtained from semi-structured interviews with the suppliers and Brookes Procurement. This paper will highlight the lack of transparency in the palm oil supply chain and explore organisations in place that aim to increase traceability