Case Name :      Of Orangutans and Chainsaws: Cargill Inc. Confronts the Rainforest Action Network Advocacy

Authors :           Ram Subramanian

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W12080

Discipline :        General Management

Case Length :    10 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

Cargill, Inc., the privately owned, U.S.-based agribusiness company, was one of the largest sellers of palm oil in the world. Starting in 2007, the company was targeted by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), a non-governmental organization (NGO) that advocated environmentalism. RAN targeted Cargill because the production of palm oil in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia destroyed rainforests. RAN pressured Cargill’s customers such as Nestle to demand palm oil produced by sustainable farming. Palm oil producers formed an industry monitoring body called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). A September 2011 announcement of Indonesia’s withdrawal from the RSPO warranted a response from Cargill to combat the strident protest of RAN. Cargill’s CEO had to come up with a plan of action to respond to RAN’s demands.