The Skinny Pancake Pledges "Newtella" for Their Annual Oath of Action

In 2017, The Skinny Pancake introduced an annual Oath of Action initiative in collaboration with 1% For the Planet, a Burlington based environmental non-profit. The initiative went viral with worldwide engagement and over 4 million social media impressions (#OathOfAction). On January 20th, 2018, the Skinny Pancake will be announcing our Oath Of Action for the year: we will no longer use Nutella, replacing it with a palm oil free Chocolate hazelnut spread.

Why is this an Oath Of Action? The environmental impact of commercial palm oil cultivation is devastating. It is responsible for deforestation across the globe. The equivalent of 300 football fields of rainforest is destroyed every hour to make way for palm oil plantations, and demand is projected to double by 2030, and triple by 2050. Meanwhile, The Skinny Pancake consumes approximately 4000 lbs of Nutella a year in nearly 40,000 crepes annually.

“Nutella has been a product we’ve been addicted to for years,” says Founder/Owner Benjy Adler. “Unfortunately, a palm-oil free product of comparable taste, texture, consistency and price has long eluded us.”

The Skinny Pancake had previously collaborated with local chocolatier Lake Champlain Chocolates to create a palm-oil free chocolate hazelnut spread, but the process and price proved unfeasible. The new chocolate-hazelnut spread is being domestically produced by Nutkao, an Italian company with a plant in South Carolina. In future months, the Skinny Pancake hopes to introduce this product into local and regional retail markets.

“We often call Nutella our ‘gateway crepe.’ It brings folks in the door for the first time and then we can introduce them to our locally-sourced menu. By making this risky switch away from Nutella, a product with massive loyalty, we hope to highlight wider environmental issues that arise in commercial food production.”

The Skinny Pancake is currently seeking a name for this product and offering a year’s supply to the person who suggests the winning name.

Please join the Skinny Pancake and 1% For The Planet on Saturday, January 20th at their Burlington Waterfront Location for their second annual Oath Of Action event. The event will feature live music from Burlington’s Big Night, a tap takeover from Maine Beer Company, free tastings of the new palm oil free chocolate hazelnut spread, and an opportunity for individuals to take their own Oaths of Action.