allegations of land disputes and deforestation charges in Sarawak.

As IOI attempts to clear its name,

Unilever, the world's second largest consumer group, issued a statement saying that it would review
supply agreements with IOI should the latter fail to deliver the requirements by the RSPO. For B2C,
the end consumer may not be as much interested in the profile of the manufacturer as compared to
what the product can offer. IOI is also required to market to the decision makers in the buying centre3;
addressing their specific needs and objectives. For B2C, the consumer himself makes the final
decision.
Lastly, market mix characteristics. B2B businesses like IOI do direct selling to the organization and its
means of physical distribution is very important. Compared to B2C, consumers purchase the products
generally from retailers and do not pay much attention to physical distribution. They are satisfied with
being to obtain the product at a convenient place (place utility). B2Bs advertising and other forms of
promotions are very technical in nature, as it targets other corporates who may require specific
products in their manufacturing process. For B2C, advertising can be done to create a perceived
need, which highlights on how advanced ones product is from another, urging the consumer to satisfy
that difference. Thus, B2Cs advertisements tend to be more illustrative and enticing. In B2B, price is
also often negotiated, as businesses buy in bulk and in contracts (short term 3 months to a year,
long term up to 10 years) to maximise economies of scale and to minimise price volatility. Such
contracts may be worth millions of dollars. For B2C, buyers tend to purchase in small quantities
(usually one); the retailers sets the price and may throw in discounts with the purchase to entice the
buyer that what they are paying provides value for the dollar.
2. Derived demand means that the demand for industrial product or services is driven by, or derived
from, demand for consumer products and services. For example, the demand for steel is derived from
the demand for automobiles (not exhaustive) which requires steel as a component for manufacturing
cars and other vehicles.
In the case for IOI, IOI has integrated value-chain operations from seedlings to plantations to crop oil
extraction to manufacturing of various industrial products such as fatty alcohol, soap noodles,
stearates, esters, and snack ingredients

At IOIs oleo-chemical stage, the palm oil and palm kernel oil are further processed to produce oleochemical products such as fatty acids and esters, glycerines, soap noodles, fatty alcohols, and
metallic stearates which have various application in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, personal care,
home care, industrial detergents and surfactants, and lubricant products.
At IOIs specialty fats manufacturing operations, its specialty fats provide special functions and unique
solutions in food applications and branch out to nutrition and health supplement applications. It has
products in various categories, ranging from confectionary fats, bakery fats, snack food fats and oils,
food service fats and oils, and nutritional lipids
3

Representatives may range from the customers research and development department, quality control department, production department,
procurement department, finance department and management team