Darrell Lea is now 100% palm oil-free

3rd September 2020 | Eativity editors

Darrell Lea has announced that it’s now 100 percent palm oil-free across its entire product range. The iconic confectionery company is the first Australian major supermarket brand to achieve this significant and environmentally important milestone.

This is great news for all chocolate lovers, but especially for the 68 percent of Darrell Lea customers who say they would change the products they purchase if they knew they contained palm oil, as well as the 70 percent who believe palm oil is directly related to rainforest deforestation and reducing the number of orangutans in the wild.

The mammoth task has taken the business two years to complete, with more than 200 individual ingredients reviewed and 100 products changed in the process.

Darrell Lea factories in Sydney and Melbourne have started replacing palm oil across the entire range, with the new 100 percent palm oil-free products hitting shelves this week. By November, the company anticipates that all its products in supermarkets will also be palm oil-free. Darrell Lea will also redesign packaging with a new logo and clear ingredient listing.

Darrell Lea is now 100% palm oil-free
The company celebrates going 100% palm oil-free by dropping some fun and ballsy new products.

Do the right thing

“As a business, we wanted to do the right thing,” says Darrell Lea Marketing Director, Tim Stanford. “In recent years, our consumers have told us that they don’t want palm oil in our products. We listened and we took action, finding a great alternative in sunflower oil. It doesn’t affect the taste, look or feel of our products.”

Current Australian labelling laws mean that palm oil doesn’t have to be included on product packaging. It’s often called vegetable oil or vegetable fat. Darrell Lea thinks Australians deserve to know what’s in the products they’re consuming.

“There is no doubt that palm oil production causes major devastation to rainforests and endangered animals,” Stanford says. “Including the orangutan.

“We call on all businesses, not only in the confectionery industry but also across the board. Look into your supply chain. And make better decisions about the ingredients you use.”

To find out more about Darrell Lea, and to check out the full range, head to the website.