Protesters Dunk New Krispy Kremes As ‘Deforestation Doughnuts’

On first sight, it might have seemed as though a parallel universe was poking through on Tuesday as protesters picketed the opening of two new Krispy Kreme doughnut shops in New Castle, Delaware, and Madison, Tennessee.

Then reality was restored with the reasoning: Krispy Kreme uses palm oil to fry its dough; palm oil comes from cutting down rain forests, and a group calling itself the Forest Heroes isn’t going to stand for it any more.

Already, the group has protested the use of palm oil in products sold by Mars, General Mills, Nestle, and Kellogg’s. Tuesday, it was Krispy Kreme’s turn to face the gauntlet.

Holding signs and wearing hats similar to the employees inside that decried Krispy Kreme as “DEFORESTATION DOUGHNUTS,” the group was turned away by security at the Tennessee store’s entrances early Tuesday, so they moved to an area in sight and kept protesting.

The group’s representative, Joel Finkelstein told Philly that Krispy Kreme’s “corporate decision makers continue to buy ‘no-questions-asked‘ palm oil from suppliers linked to deforestation like IOI Loders Croklaan, Cargill and Bunge.”

Krispy Kreme countered, however, to Philly, saying that it had already begun the healing process:

“Our efforts to [buy sustainable palm oil] began in January 2014 with a commitment to only source products for our US locations from suppliers who are certified members of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and those who can guarantee compliance with all sustainable palm oil production methods as defined in the RSPO guidelines.

“Additionally, Krispy Kreme has committed to purchase enough GreenPalm certificates to cover 100 percent of its estimated usage of palm oil in the United States by the end of 2015, and we are working with GreenPalm and our international partners on similar initiatives.”

This isn’t the first time that Krispy Kreme has faced protesters recently. Along with other franchises, the company has been picketed for the low wages it pays its employees. No one, however, has yet to come out against the calorie counts of the company’s products, which happen to be slightly better than its chief competitor, Dunkin Donuts.

[Image courtesy of Forest Heroes]