Purchase-headquartered PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) has requested its supply chain partners to suspend doing business with the Indonesian conglomerate Astra Agro Lestari (AAL), which has been accused of environmental and human rights abuses.
According to a report in Supply Chain Drive, the International Federation for Human Rights asked several major consumer goods providers to cease doing business with AAL, claiming that company plays a “sustained role in forcibly grabbing communities”™ land, contributing to environmental destruction, negatively impacting communities”™ livelihoods, and criminalizing land and environmental human rights defenders.”
In a statement, PepsiCo said that it was reviewing the complaints regarding AAL, which provides the Indonesian palm oil used by PepsiCo in its packaged food business
“While PepsiCo does not source directly from AAL, we are engaging with suppliers who continue to source from them and have asked that they suspend the mills identified as being potentially linked to the grievance and underlying allegations,” the company said.
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