ORGANIC Palm oil

Sustainable, fair and organic. Of course, our palm oil in Naturland Fair quality has nothing to do with conventional palm oil, which is produced for industrial purposes and for which valuable rainforests are cleared - on the contrary: with our partner project Serendipalm in Ghana, we support local farming families and promote sustainable palm oil cultivation without the disastrous effects on people, animals and the environment.

The Serendipalm project

The difference between palm oil production in the Serendipalm project and the production of large competitors begins on the plantations. While large manufacturers grow oil palms in monoculture plantations and often clear forest land to do so, Serendipalm only processes palm fruits that come from more than 600 local organic smallholders in Asuom and the surrounding area. Fair payment enables the conversion to organically managed plantations. This continuously helps to improve soil fertility and yield. The typical field sizes of small farmers often only cover two to three hectares and are therefore significantly smaller compared to conventional plantations with areas of 10,000 hectares and more. Large producers process the palm fruits in central oil factories that are poorly integrated into the local communities, often with negative and globally criticized effects on people, animals and the environment.

The oil mill in Asuom uses traditional and simple production processes that require a lot of manual labor and thus create a correspondingly large number of jobs. In total, more than 250 people work there. The Serendipalm project currently produces almost 30 tons of crude palm oil per week, a fraction of the 500 to 1000 tons produced in large factories. Nevertheless, we are certain that small is often better and Serendipalm's philosophy of fair and eco-friendly production enables strong community involvement. This has a positive impact on the Asuom district. Large palm oil producers are usually unable to achieve this, even if there is good will on the part of many of them.

Serendipalm's success shows that good fair trade and organic palm oil is possible. We at Ölmühle Solling are pleased that there are projects around the world that produce sustainable palm oil.

Red palm oil in the kitchen

Untreated palm oil is organically produced and its importance for a balanced diet is often underestimated. It is a valuable source of vitamins A and E and has become an indispensable part of African and Asian cuisine.

A striking difference to our previous palm oil in EC organic quality is the somewhat stronger smell and taste. With the EC organic quality, the palm oil was filtered before bottling; with our Naturland Fair palm oil, we do without this step in order to be able to offer a virgin product with all the ingredients that are given to the fatty acid spectrum. Palm oil can be heated to a high temperature and is ideal for steaming, frying and deep-frying as well as a base for savory spreads.

Against environmental destruction and agro-industrial agriculture

The oil palm is one of the most important crops in the world. Conventional cultivation in monocultures, for which rainforest is often cleared, has led to the production of this type of palm oil being rightly criticized. Particularly in South East Asia and Africa (Rwanda, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines), large areas of forest are still being cleared to create new and even larger palm plantations. This is destroying the habitats of many animal and plant species over large areas. We expressly distance ourselves from this type of agro-industrial production. And: We condemn the use of food for energy production, be it maize, grain or oil fruits.

Organic palm oil as an original foodstuff

However, palm oil is not an "industrial raw material", but an original, valuable foodstuff with a centuries-old tradition in the kitchens of Africa and Asia. In keeping with this tradition, Ölmühle Solling offers you untreated palm oil carefully extracted from the fully ripe flesh of the oil palm. It is characterized by its red-orange, natural hue and characteristic taste. It is interesting for a balanced diet because it contains plenty of carotenoids (precursors of vitamin A) and tocotrienols (vitamin E).

Ideal for frying and baking as well as for spreading on bread.