Woolworths Launches Sustainable Palm Oil Beauty Products

With a large portion of South African consumers aiming to go greener this year, Woolworths is helping us make better choices with a new range of WBeauty soap bars – the first South African products to be made with sustainable palm oil as the main ingredient.

Palm oil is preferable for making soap because of its high quality and good foaming properties, however, over the years, the rising demand for it on a global scale has had harsh impacts on the environment as vast areas of forests have been demolished to accommodate for more palm plantations. This has seen the threat of endangered species such as the Sumatran orangutan, tiger and rhino, pushing consumers to demand more sustainable palm oil production processes.

The new range of WBeauty soap means that consumers can enjoy all the benefits of palm oil knowing that they are contributing to a more sustainable planet and environment. On the packaging of the bars is the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) logo, which guarantees that the palm oil used is certifiably sustainable.

The soap bars are just the beginning of Woolworths’ step towards sustainability with a 2020 Good Business Journey target to use only RSPO-certified palm oil in all its other beauty, cosmetic and food products. The brand also joins other great environmentally-friendly initiatives such as having the Beauty Without Cruelty (vegan, no animal testing) certification across all its beauty ranges, as well as having removed harmful plastic microbeads from its products.