In the light of its commitment to sustainable development and efficient management and leaning on the decision to formally join the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest sustainable development and corporate sustainability initiative in 2021, in 2022 Fortenova Group continued with its activities of joining associations that advocate and promote the UN Global Compact’s principles. It has thus in practice implemented activities it has undertaken to promote – to support the society in which it operates and be engaged in all markets where it is present and to report every year on the permanent efforts that it invests in sustainability.

Therefore, after having become member of the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development (Hrvatski poslovni savjet za održivi razvoj, HR PSOR) in late 2021, an organisation whose mission it is to raise awareness of sustainable development as the fundamental development of the Republic of Croatia (HR PSOR is the local branch of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, WBCSD), in 2022 Fortenova Group in Croatia joined the International Institute for Climate Action (IICA), an association of experts in the area of climate change and climate policy.

The Institute is a successor of the Croatian Association for Reducing the Carbon Footprint, its purpose being to help the business community in its fight against climate change, in reducing CO2 emissions, introducing the Low-Carbon Development Strategy and the European Green Deal in their business plans and processes.

Fortenova grupa d.d., together with its companies Mercator d.o.o. and Mercator Emba, became member of the Slovenian Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility (Inštitut za razvoj družbene odgovornosti – IRDO), in mid-January 2023. The Institute is Slovenia’s leading organisation that makes a concrete contribution to the development of social responsibility in Slovenia and on the global level by conducting research, education and consultancy activities.

With its membership in the above organisations Fortenova Group serves as a role model for a stronger involvement of the business sector in activities intended to make progress towards sustainable development goals and achieving corporate sustainability.

RSPO

In the Southeast Europe region, Dijamant and Zvijezda are the two largest and oldest regional manufacturers of edible oil, margarine and mayonnaise, as well as mayonnaise-based products and ketchup, and both companies operate as part of Fortenova Group.

Both Zvijezda, with more than 100 years, and Dijamant, with over 80 years of tradition, are synonymous with quality, as regularly witnessed by consumer preferences in independent researches, with the products of these companies regularly stated as their first choice.

The market leadership status of the companies goes hand in hand with the consumers’ trust in their technology procedures, the products’ health safety, traceability as well as the adherence to sustainability principles in the production and supply chain. This approach has been acknowledged by a number of certificates and quality designations held by both companies.

One of those is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certificate issued by the international RSPO organisation, dedicated to promoting the growing and use of sustainable palm oil products.

The cultivation of oil palms significantly contributes to negative consequences for the environment and the society. The creation of plantations frequently requires the clearing of large areas of land, resulting in massive tropical deforestation. This process leads to a severe loss of biodiversity, including the extinction of numerous endangered species that lose their natural habitat. Furthermore, the burning of forests, which is frequently used as a means of land preparation, causes increased emissions of greenhouse gas, thus additionally exacerbating climate change.

Besides environmental, there are also significant social challenges. The cultivation of palm oil frequently leads to the forced displacement of indigenous communities, while poor working conditions and the exploitation of workers, including child labour, additionally emphasize the negative social impact related to this industry.

In order to prevent the occurrence of negative impacts on the environment and the society, the fundamental principles of the RSPO organisation include the respect for workers’ rights, ethical conduct, the responsible and sustainable use of land, occupational safety, climate change mitigation and the reduction of GHG emissions, the inclusion of small, local suppliers and transparency, and involve a large number of various stakeholders – from producers and manufacturers to retailers.

Being aware of the importance of such approach and the adverse consequences of palm oil cultivation, through their membership and annual recertification in the global RSPO initiative Zvijezda and Dijamant have opted to actively participate in and collaborate on the promotion and development of sustainable practices in procuring palm oil and have built the fundamental principles of that model into their corporate values. The dedication of Zvijezda and Dijamant to the RSPO initiative is visible through their increased use of sustainable palm oil in the production of industrial products, with the consumption of sustainable palm oil for those purposes having continuously grown (the consumption of that raw material was 2.5 times higher in 2024 in comparison to 2023).

They have thus demonstrated their awareness of the importance of promoting sustainable operations in the palm oil supply chain, supporting an initiative striving to develop a palm oil production industry based on sustainability principles throughout the chain.