Greenpeace activists have undertaken their second action of the day against Kentucky Fried Chicken, the UKs third biggest fast food retailer, by placing a giant replica of a KFC family bucket outside of KFCs flagship store on Oxford Street. The protest at Oxford Street KFC follows this mornings demonstration at the Head Quarters of KFC in Woking where staff were also greeted with a large bargain bucket and activists dressed as endangered orang-utans.
Todays actions are part of an international campaign by Greenpeace across the world aimed at forcing KFC, part of Yum, to clean ups its supply chain and to stop using paper that is contributing to the destruction of Indonesias rainforests, pushing endangered species like the Sumatran tiger closer to extinction.
Commenting on the protest Robin Oakley from Greenpeace said:
We began this morning by taking our campaign against KFC and their use of paper and pulp from endangered Indonesian rainforests to the staff of KFC at their HQ in Woking, now at one of the busiest times of the day, we have come to their flagship store on Oxford Street to tell their customers that KFC packaging comes from endangered rainforests of South East Asia.
Loyal customers coming to get their lunch will be horrified to learn that one their favourite foods is responsible for the mass destruction of rainforests across Indonesia. We are asking customers to join us and demand that KFC stop using paper that destroys the rainforests.
According to KFC UK a their environmental pledges on their website, they say they are committed to:
When we use packaging thats not recycled, we make sure it comes from sustainable forests that get the tick of approval from the guys at The Forestry Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
None of the paper supplied by APP is certified by either of these schemes.
Commenting on KFCs sustainability pledge Robin Oakley from Greenpeace said:
The Irony is that KFC UK claims it has a very clear policy on sourcing paper from sustainable sources yet sadly their promise doesnt seem to be worth the very unethical paper its been written on.
Greenpeaces 12 month investigation found that of 13 boxes of KFC bought at a variety of stores in the UK, 10 contained rainforest fibre.
Commenting on the evidence Robin Oakley from Greenpeace said:
We have obtained a clear chain of custody that shows KFC buying their products from a company in Cambridgeshire, who buy paper from APP and we know from our extensive research in recent years the massive scale of damage that APP are responsible for in Indonesia.
Greenpeaces investigation over the last year has uncovered that of 13 boxes of KFC bought, 10 had significant levels of mixed tropical hard wood. Samples from a box bought from Christchurch KFC contained 53% mixed tropical hardwood whilst a sample from a box bought from the branch in Tooting London contained 57% mixed tropical hardwood. At the Crouch End Branch the testing found 36% in a KFC box.
Further investigations by Greenpeace have established supply chain links to APP. These finding have been released today in a new report How KFC is Junking the Jungle
