Flora

How ethical is Flora?

Flora is a brand of Cooking Oil which has been given a below-benchmark score on The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Cooking Oil Ratings Table. Although it has not yet met our ethical benchmark, we hope to see Flora make progress in future.

Read more about the issues facing the Ethical Cooking Oil sector and find out which companies have achieved accreditation for their commitment to being ethical and sustainable.

What does Flora do?

Flora produces a range of cooking oils and spreads, some dairy and some non-dairy. The brand was created by Unilever originally with the aim of being a healthier alternative to existing margarines at the time.

In which areas does Flora perform poorly?

Flora was marked down under our criteria for Organic due to a lack of certification. It also received a bottom rating for GMOs as the brand’s parent company, KKR & Co Inc., co-led a round of funding for Replay, a genome writing company.

KKR & Co invests in several oil and gas companies so Flora is given a bottom rating for Fossil Fuels. It also gets a poor rating for Animal Welfare as one of its sister brands (Wella) tests on animals when required by law.

As its parent company is involved with the supply of robotics within the defence industry, Flora gets a middle rating for Armaments. Find out more about how we rate by exploring our ethical criteria.

In which areas does Flora score well for its ethics?

Parent company, Upfield, has a ‘Better Planet’ page containing good targets for packaging, carbon emissions and responsible sourcing, so Flora gets a good score for its Environmental Report.

We found no criticisms of Flora relating to; Nuclear Power or Political Donations, so it scores well for these criteria.

How can Flora improve its ethical rating?

The below-benchmark score that Flora is awarded is the result of an evaluation of multiple ethical criteria. To reach our minimum benchmark score and qualify for Ethical Accreditation, Flora has some issues to resolve including its involvement with the Armaments industry.

Were you aware that your brand could benefit from Ethical Accreditation? Brands accredited by The Good Shopping Guide can display our Ethical Mark, showcasing to consumers that it is an ethical and sustainable brand. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us or complete a Free Initial Assessment form.