Sipef, another solid year
Update Full Year 2024
Short description
Sipef carries out agro-industrial activities, primarily focused on palm oil and bananas. After selling its tea operations and part of its rubber plantations, the company now concentrates mainly on these two products. The remaining rubber plantations are being replanted with palm oil. There is also a small flower business, but it has little impact on the overall figures.
Of these two activities, palm oil is by far the most important. In terms of planted area, bananas (and flowers) account for just 1.2% of the total, while palm oil or rubber plantations being converted to palm oil make up the rest. Regionally, 82.1% of the hectares are located in Indonesia, 16.7% in Papua New Guinea (PNG)—both for palm oil—and 1.2% in Ivory Coast for bananas.
From its headquarters in Schoten, near Antwerp, a team of about 20 people oversees around 22,000 employees operating in these countries. The company also has an administrative and trading office in Singapore.
Why we selected Sipef
If we look at palm oil rationally, without emotion, we can see how essential it is. According to the website palmoilscorecard.panda.org, a WWF platform, palm oil accounts for 60% of all traded vegetable oils. It is found in 50% of all processed products, including frozen pizza, noodles, chocolate, personal care items, and cleaning products. Additionally, 70% of all cosmetics contain palm oil-derived ingredients.
WWF also states that palm oil is the most efficient vegetable oil to produce per hectare of land. According to their findings, other vegetable oils yield 4 to 10 times less on the same amount of land. Moreover, they generally require less water and fewer fertilizers. In other words, perhaps it’s time to reconsider how we view palm oil. And in doing so, I choose one of the best—if not the best—companies in the industry.