In 2022, Dial® began partnering with Solidaridad, an international non-profit that enables farmers and workers to improve their working conditions and produce in better balance with nature.
Dial® is providing grants to Solidaridad from 2022 – 2024 for a project in Colombia that is planning to:
• Supply RSPO certified sustainable palm oil to be used in Dial® bar soaps made in Colombia
• Create an additional 35,000 acres of RSPO certified farmland for sustainable palm oil production
• Provide 520 farmers with training and additional information regarding financial support so they can improve their agricultural practice and become more socially and environmentally responsible
It is a vegetable oil that comes from the fresh fruit bunches of oil palm trees.
When used in Dial® soap, it helps skin feel moisturized and remove oil and dirt.
Palm oil has many uses. It is the highest yielding vegetable oil crop, meaning that it would take more land to produce other oils such as soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower. The challenges with palm oil sourcing include poor land usage practices and potential unethical treatment of workers, which Dial® and Solidaridad, through their partnership are helping to address.
• We are collecting quarterly data from Colombian production sites to track the progress of the program and make sure that guidelines are being followed
• We are organizing 3rd party annual auditor visits to the palm oil production sites
• We are taking reoccurring satellite photos of the land where the project is occurring to monitor for any potential deforestation
Catalina is of Afro-Colombian descent. As a victim of the armed conflict in Colombia, she lost her husband at a young age. This single mother raised her two sons with the income obtained through her palm oil farm. She employs 1 person permanently and 1 person temporarily. Catalina sells her fresh fruit bunches through a palm oil processing mill in the Caribbean, in which she is also a shareholder. Thanks to her crop, she makes earnings that are above the living income benchmark level in Colombia.
Her plantation is characterized by good agricultural practices such as the application of organic compost. Catalina does not use pesticides, instead she promotes the planting of nectar plants to improve the population of beneficial insects. No forest or high conservation value areas have been affected for the establishment of her palm oil plantation. She is the legal title holder of the land she works on with her family.
With the help of Henkel and Solidaridad, Catalina receives training and assistance to adopt the sustainable practices required by RSPO.
The Caraballo family, previously rice producers, established their oil palm plantation in 2008. Currently there are 8 members involved in the family business. Thanks to their palm oil plantation, the Caraballo´s have ensured an income well above the living wage for their family members and for their workers. Moreover, through the promotion of oil palm crops, the poverty levels in their communities have been reduced and new job opportunities have been created. The Caraballo family is the legal title holder of the land they work on with their families.