A number of the UK’s leading bakery manufacturers and retailers have been named as the most responsible buyers of certified sustainable palm oil in the world.

The World’s Wildlife Foundation has scored Allied Bakeries and Burton’s Foods with the top score of nine in The Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard 2011, which asseses companies using certified palm oil in a sustainable way. In addition, Warburton’s, United Biscuits and Premier Foods were among the top performers in the report.

In total, 132 food and personal care product businesses from Europe, Asia and Australia were scored out of nine, marked on their commitment to using the product and their pledge to the public to only use palm oil certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) by 2015 or earlier. In addition, the report took into account whether businesses has disclosed the total volume of palm oil it uses and whether this information is published.

Biscuit manufacturer Burton’s Foods, which uses between 10,000 and 50,000 tonnes of palm oil a year, has made a commitment to using sustainable palm oil until 2013. Allied Bakeries, known for its Kingsmill and Sunblest brands, uses between 1,000 and 10,000 tonnes per year pledging a commitment to using the product until 2014.

United Biscuits, who produce such brands as Jaffa Cakes and McVitie’s biscuits, signed a deal in 2009 to purchase certified palm oil from New Britain Palm Oil for a minimum of two years. The company has said it uses up to 100,000 tonnes of the product each year.

Both Warburton’s and Premier Foods have stated that they will use certified sustainable palm for another four years.

Sales of sustainable palm oil more than tripled from 0.4 million tonnes in 2009 to about 1.3 million tonnes in 2010.

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