Ferrero to stop buying palm oil from Malaysia’s Sime Darby over labour concerns

Italian confectionary giant Ferrero said it will stop sourcing palm oil from Sime Darby Plantation after the U.S. customs service found the Malaysian planter used forced labour.

“Ferrero will comply with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s decision,” Ferrero, which uses palm oil its in Ferrero Rocher chocolates and Nutella spread, told Reuters by email.It said it has asked its global suppliers to stop supplying palm oil and palm kernel oil from Sime Darby.

Although Ferrero buys relatively little of the edible oil from Sime Darby, its move – following similar halts by Hershey Co and General Mills Inc – is a further reputational blow for Sime Darby and for Malaysia, which faces mounting allegations of labour abuses of migrant workers in various industries.