About Palm Oil
Native to Africa, the oil palms were first introduced to Southeast Asia by the Dutch in 1848 for ornamental and medicinal purpose. They might have remained as nothing more than ornamental plants, had it not been for a Frenchman, Henri Fauconnier, who decided to plant them commercially to replace coffee, which had been unsuccessful. He started the first oil palm plantation in Malaysia in 1917.
Today, Malaysia’s oil palms are the world’s most productive oil-yielding crop as the seeds of industrialization have been carefully planted and cultivated with astute foresight, proficient scientific research and plenty of hard physical work. The oil palm thrives quite naturally in Malaysia’s ideal climate and soils.
“It has the scent of violets, the taste of oil and a colour, which tinges food like saffron but is more attractive.”
-Ca’da Mosto, a 15th century explorer on discovering red palm oil.
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