Starbucks, so often the darling of social responsibility discussions in the U.S. produce arena, has come under fire for its palm oil policy from global consumer movement SumOfUs.

The fruit that palm oil is made from

In a recent email, the group labeled the world's largest coffee retailer as a "purveyor of environment-wrecking palm oil", highlighting that while Starbucks is a recent member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) it has already allegedly failed to report mandatory data on its palm oil sourcing to the overseeing body.

"Your Starbucks coffee break is likely to be contributing to deforestation, extinction of endangered tigers and orangutans, and abuses of workers and communities," SumOfUs said.

"While other industry giants such as McDonald’s, KFC, Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme have committed to cutting conflict palm oil from their supply chains, Starbucks is taking an ostrich-like approach -- sticking its head in the ground and ignoring this growing emergency, and the concerns of its consumers.

"In 2013, facing public pressure, Starbucks announced that it would be sourcing 100% sustainable palm oil by 2015. That deadline has come and gone, and Starbucks needs to hear from us that we won’t wait any longer for responsible palm oil."

SumOfUs said that even if Starbucks met RSPO criteria, it wouldn't necessarily mean it had achieved gold standards, but what was most remarkable was the stark contrast between the retailer's "lack of progress on palm oil" compared to the company's work on coffee.

"Earlier this year, Starbucks announced that 99 percent of its coffee is now ethically sourced, which it accomplished by developing and implementing the Coffee and Farmer Equity Practices (CAFE), a third-party verified program for farmers to ensure certain human rights and environmental standards are met," SumOfUs said.

"Through its CAFE initiative, Starbucks actually reduced deforestation in its coffee supply chain. Why is it so hard to do the same for palm oil? Tell Starbucks to meet its goal of 100% sustainable palm oil urgently.

"The past few months have been a pivotal moment for industry leaders such as McDonald’s and KFC who have adopted sustainable palm oil policies following campaigns by SumOfUs."

At the time of writing, 60,298 people had signed the petition urging the Seattle-based company to improve its palm oil policy.

Photo: Bongoman, via Wikimedia Commons

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