Time to Healthy Up: Why Big Food Must Ditch Palm Oil, Rethink Packaging, and Make Real Food Again
In 2025, sustainability is no longer a bonus feature — it’s the baseline. Yet somehow, many of the world’s largest food conglomerates — Nestlé, Unilever, PepsiCo, and others — are still acting like it’s 1997.
Yes, they’ve released glossy sustainability reports, made net-zero pledges, and switched to slightly “greener” packaging for some products. But when you scratch beneath the surface, there’s still far too much business-as-usual. We need less PR and more action — especially when it comes to palm oil use, plastic waste, and food processing.
Let’s break it down.
1. Palm Oil: The Greasy Elephant in the Room
Palm oil is in everything — from cookies to shampoo to instant noodles. It’s cheap, versatile, and very profitable. But it's also a leading cause of deforestation in tropical regions, displacing endangered wildlife like orangutans and contributing significantly to carbon emissions.
To be fair, companies love to talk about “sustainable palm oil.” They slap RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) certifications on packaging like gold stars. But these schemes have been criticized for weak enforcement, vague definitions, and — frankly — being a fig leaf for unsustainable practices.
The truth? The most sustainable palm oil is the palm oil you don’t use. Big food companies need to innovate away from it. Invest in alternatives. Reformulate products. Because deforestation-free is good — but forest-positive is better.
2. Packaging: Less Talk, More Compostable
If you've ever bought a snack from a supermarket, you’ve probably unwrapped a layer cake of plastic that could survive a nuclear winter. Despite promises to make packaging “recyclable by 2025,” most of it still ends up in landfills — or worse, in our oceans.
The real kicker? Even so-called “recyclable” packaging often isn’t recyclable in practice. Multi-layered plastics, pouches, and foils are incredibly difficult to process. And compostable options? Still a niche.
Big Food needs to invest in truly circular packaging: compostable materials, reusable systems, and minimalist design that doesn’t wrap a single cookie in enough plastic to choke a dolphin. If startups can do it, so can the giants — they just need to care more than the cost per unit.
3. Stop Overprocessing Everything
Have you ever looked at the back of a snack bar and wondered why it has 36 ingredients, half of which sound like chemicals from a dystopian sci-fi novel?
Ultra-processed food is not just bad for health — it's bad for the planet. It takes more energy to produce, often relies on monoculture crops like corn and soy, and contributes to diet-related diseases that stress healthcare systems globally.
Companies need to return to real food — with fewer ingredients, less sugar, and more transparency. And yes, taste still matters. But so does integrity.
What Needs to Happen Next
Real accountability: Independent audits, not internal press releases.
Incentives for innovation: Reward R&D teams for finding palm oil alternatives or inventing compostable packaging.
Consumer education: Stop greenwashing and start informing.
Less lobbying, more leadership: These companies have the power to influence entire supply chains. Use it wisely.
Written by Thuong Tan for NextGen Purpose
Founder at Noodelist
Noodelist is plant-based instant noodles which is better for the planet and better for your health.