The term sustainability entered our lexicon some time ago, quickly cementing its buzzword status as fodder in global warming debates and Al Gore Presidential campaigns, but as 2010 approaches, it’s become more necessity than platform. One billion people are added to the global population tally every 12 years and being prepared means doing everything in our power to prolong our resources for the longest amount of time. Often times, that means being inventive. Singapore incorporated, palm oil company, Asian Plantations Limited, has already recognized and begun moving forward
on this notion.
At present, Asian Plantations Limited is involved in the acquisition and development of palm oil plantation land in Sarawak, Malaysia. Beginning in 2010, their palm oil estate will begin producing fresh fruit bunches or “FFB” as they are called, which are crushed and processed at a nearby mill.
The procedure is both inexpensive and eco-friendly, with one hectare of mature palm oil producing the same amount of edible oils as 10 to 15 hectares of its soya, rapseed or canola competitors.
Developing nations in Africa and in the East have been benefiting from the health and cost benefits palm oil for nearly a century. The trans-fat free oil, which has been compared to more heart healthy coconut oil, has been a major part of eastern cuisine for some time. Today, westernized nations are becoming aware of it in their search for more price efficient and healthier, alternative oil sources. The demand for palm oil is climbing, as word of it use in cooking, processed foods, soaps and shampoos spreads cross culturally.
Asian Plantations intends to meet those demands, laboring to expand its 4,795 hectare estate in Sarawak, Malaysia to 20,000 hectares by the close of 2011. The goal is not only a business venture but an eco venture as well, with palm oils innate greenness manifesting itself in more ways than one. Palm oil has the lowest production costs and the smallest eco footprint of all edible oils, making its potential for significant yields and global benefits quite considerable. It is already the number one edible oil consumed globally, employed regularly in Eastern cuisine and a critical part of the diet of billions of people in developing nations. It is not absent in Western culture though, appearing as an ingredient in such products as Ramen noodles and pre-prepared cake and hot chocolate mixes.
Palm oils ubiquitousness in the diet of developing nations can be easily explained its cost effeciency. Palm oil seeds are the most productive oil seed in the world, making it conducive for mass consumption and production. For this reason, the company’s directors Graeme Iain Brown and Dennis Nicholas Melka refer to plantation land expansion as “the sweet spot of agricultural investing.” Developing a hectare of plantation estate in Malaysia costs approximately $6,250 over a three-year period compared with the selling price of mature palm oil land on the public markets of up to $30,000 per hectare.
Asian plantations, which became listed on the AIM on the London Stock Exchange in 2009, endeavors to go beyond being a boon for its investors alone; working to bring employment opportunities, clean water initiatives and medical services to its farming areas. The company enlisted Captain Panir, a decorated Malaysian military officer, to direct all in-field operations and community relations as a means of best helping both the indigenous crop and surrounding area to flourish.
Asian Plantation believes it has positioned itself to do just that in the coming years. It continues to take steps to advance in its plans of expansion and improvement; for the company, the product, the community and the environment alike.
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