After the dissemination of a report by Ojo Público web portal on April 18, 2024, again aimed at attacking Ocho Sur and damaging its reputation with its customers, called “The links of Ocho Sur with the palm oil supplier of the multinational PepsiCo”, in which satellite images are presented and it is falsely claimed that Ocho Sur and its suppliers have deforested, we reject such false allegations and clarify to the public the following:
- The two areas presented with alleged clearing in the satellite images of the Ojo Público report and their sources are outside the limits of the Tibecocha estate owned by Ocho Sur, so any forest clearance is unrelated to Ocho Sur. Neither are areas that correspond to suppliers from Ocho Sur as falsely and maliciously indicated by Ojo Público. Attached is a link to a technical report prepared with public satellite information, geo-referenced drone photos and public information from the same Environmental Assessment and Control Agency (OEFA).
- In the upper area of the image, a plot outside the limits of our Tibecocha estate is shown. The aforementioned area is located in another Department (Loreto) and corresponds to a third-party property, totally unrelated to Ocho Sur as can be verified by the same information by OEFA. We have never bought fruit from this estate, and we will never buy fruit from that estate because it does not comply with our Sustainable Sourcing Policy, already published for many years on our website.
- The lower area of the same image of the Ojo Público report shows small-scale agricultural interventions that are at a considerable distance from the Ocho Sur facilities (more than 14 kilometers by road) corresponding to third-party rice crops in areas that Ocho Sur does not have any interference.
- Consequently, Ojo Público’s accusation indicating that “there is evidence of deforestation of almost 5,000 hectares in the last three years on the lands that Ocho Sur or its suppliers occupy” is obviously false and malicious. Neither Ocho Sur nor its suppliers have any responsibility for the alleged deforestation produced on properties outside and/or distant from our operations.
- An elementary standard of journalistic ethics is to contrast the information by resorting to the sources of those who will be accused in the report – Ocho Sur, in this case – which would have allowed Ojo Público to correct its information error before spreading it. This has not occurred, which is ethically and legally inexcusable.
- The accusation of Ojo Público and its sources, the Center for Clime Crime Analysis and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, also explicitly attacks our company’s clients, with the deliberate purpose of forcing them to stop sourcing our production, which is part of a deliberate strategy aimed at causing us serious financial and commercial damage.
- As we have repeated on countless occasions, since the beginning of our operations in Nueva Requena, Ucayali, in 2016, we have not expanded the oil palm plantations that were already planted nor have we deforested; on the contrary, we have signed agreements with the surrounding communities to protect the forests and prevent their deforestation, and we execute various environmental protection initiatives within our estates.
- We reiterate that we apply a strict policy in our sustainable supply chain published several years ago on our website: https://ochosur.com/sostenibilidad/#politicareportes, in which products from deforested areas are not allowed. In particular, we employ high-tech tools to monitor that none of our oil palm suppliers engage in deforestation activities.
Link to letter and technical report submitted to Ojo Público Web portal:
https://ochosur.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Carta-y-Anexos-para-Ojo-Publico-24.04.2024.pdf
