Photo Caption: President Jokowi inaugurates the Pagar Merbau red cooking oil pilot plant in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Thursday (03/14/2024) morning. Photo: Setpres
DELI SERDANG, JAKTIMES.COM – President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), inaugurated the Pagar Merbau red cooking oil pilot plant in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, on Thursday (03/14/2024) morning.
The inauguration of the first red cooking oil plant in Indonesia marks a significant step forward in the national palm oil industry and the empowerment of farmers, while also increasing the value-added of the palm oil industry.
“We want the value-added to be in the country. Therefore, we built this red cooking oil plant for the first time, and we hope this can provide good added value for oil palm farmers, especially those in the form of cooperatives. So, the price of fresh fruit bunches does not fluctuate because everything here is processed into finished goods, namely red cooking oil,” said the President.
The President explained that Indonesia has 5.3 million hectares of oil palm plantations, with 40.5 percent or 6.2 million hectares of them owned by oil palm farmers. The production of red cooking oil is believed by the President to enhance the competitiveness of domestic oil palm products.
“The price of red cooking oil is cheaper than the cooking oil available in the market. This means that this product can compete in the market, it can compete and its price is competitive,” he said.
Furthermore, according to the President, the content of Vitamin A and Vitamin E in red cooking oil is also preserved. This, according to the President, makes this product not only healthy but also economical for the community.
“This has been tried by several chefs and they conveyed, ‘Sir, this red cooking oil is different, tastier, and its nutritional content is better’,” said the President.
The plant with a production capacity of 10 tons of crude palm oil (CPO) per day is expected to produce around 7 tons of red cooking oil every day. The President also urged the public to use this domestic product as a step to support sustainable marketing and consumption of products.
“So, those who are present here, use it. I also want to buy and try it. So, if everyone buys it, it means that its marketing doesn’t need to go anywhere else,” he added.
The President emphasized that the opening of this plant is also part of the downstreaming effort, which is the process of increasing the value-added of commodities through processing into finished products.
“Do not sell fresh fruit bunches, do not sell CPO, if possible, turn them into finished products like this. This is very good,” the President concluded.
