ustainability is at the heart of every business decision here at 15Hatfields – it ’ s literally built into the fabric of our venue . After successfully removing single-use plastic from our venue – saving tens of thousands of plastic food packaging items being thrown away , as well as preventing more than one million plastic water bottles going to landfill – we were keen to look at other initiatives to meet our commitments to the UN Sustainability Goals .

Last month , after more than two-and-a-half years of work , we were on the cusp of being the UK ’ s first palm oil free venue . On the face of it , that sounds a relatively simple task , until you discover just how many products contain this form of vegetable oil .

Thanks to its low production cost , as well as its versatile properties , palm oil is said to be in 50 % of supermarket products , ranging from margarine to pastries , biscuits and chocolate to various cleaning detergents .

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF ), the irresponsible production of palm oil has caused widespread rainforest destruction and wildlife loss , which has exacerbated climate change , and impacted the rights of local communities . Greenpeace also estimates that around 24m hectares of rainforest were

Warren Campbell

“ Thanks to its low production cost , as well as its versatile properties , palm oil is said to be in 50 % of supermarket products , ranging from margarine to pastries , biscuits and chocolate .”

destroyed in Indonesia between 1990 and 2015 . It states that palm oil and paper companies are the main causes of this destruction . Increasing global demand for palm oil threatens more of the same .

There were inevitable setbacks along the way to achieving our palm oil free goal , as we conducted various audits on every area of our organisation , liaised with our supply chain and looked to secure numerous alternatives .

Then the pandemic threw further curve balls – particularly around our initial liquid soap alternatives – yet , just as we thought we ’ d achieved our goal , we sadly hit an even bigger buffer .

Current challenge

Last month , the UK Food Standards Agency issued guidance that as the Ukraine conflict is affecting the supply of oils for food , palm oil may now be used to replace sunflower oil without this needing to be clearly reflected on the labelling .

So 15Hatfields and our suppliers couldn ’ t stand by our planned declarations that palm oil is no longer being used in any of the

foods being served and consumed at the venue .

We ’ re great believers that pushing boundaries , influencing supply chains and setting a blueprint in which others can follow , should never be comfortable or easy . That ’ s why we will continue to seek to achieve our goal of being palm oil free in the other areas of our business – cleaning products and consumables .

Our mission to eventually achieve our palm oil free status also remains . We may not be able to currently say our food is 100 % palm oil free , but we can confidently reassure event organisers hiring our venue and delegates enjoying events with us that 15Hatfields has made huge strides in this area .

We hope that by shining a spotlight on the palm oil problem to event planners , being transparent in our approach and offering clear guidance on seeking alternatives that other venues can follow , we can educate , de-myth , and create change not only in the way the sector operates , but among supply chains . CN