COCONUT OIL PROCESSING

GUYANA EXPERIENCE.

Prepared & Presented by: Asraf Narine – Marketing & Quality Control Manager

Pomeroon Oil Mill Inc.

Date: December 15, 2016

Coconut Niche Product Workshop.

Background Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the Kernel or Meat of matured coconuts

harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera).

It has various applications; food, medicine, and cosmetics, lubricant, just to name a few.

Not so long ago, many organizations, especially Health ones advised against the consumption of high amounts of Coconut Oil due to its high levels of saturated fat. This however, was accelerated through the negative publicity that was placed on the product through marketing by competing businesses. One big negative used was that of coconut oil’s high saturated fat content and marketing agencies and businesses used that to link the product to Bad Cholesterols and Heat Diseases which propel the decline of consumption of the product.

Today, this is reversing due to studies done on the product and the factual benefits found. This has allowed for optimism in the Industry and its’ stakeholders are welcoming the “New Buzz” as market demands keep increasing.

Some Healthy Benefits of Coconut Oils.

In Guyana, coconut oils (RBD & VCO) is slowly making its way back. However

some consumers are still reluctant to use the product due to their perception

of the product as was negatively marketed.

Consumers are also very price conscious and as a results use cheaper

imported oils.

However, on the other hand, exports are in high demands and manufactures’

faces a steep ladder to find raw materials due to neglect of the coconut

industry (both private & government sectors); resulting in under productive

plantations, non-existent source of clean planting materials and competition

for raw materials; fresh water nuts and dry coconuts for exports.

Coconut Oil Processing in Guyana

Coconut Oil production in Guyana is mainly done via traditional methods i.e. “the

bottom house method”.

This method is known to most rural Guyanese. It includes the use of “Crude

Machinery” where the Meat of the Coconut is grated, washed with water,

squeeze/pressed, leave to settled, fermented fat at the top skimmed off and

then boiled in vats (cooking pots) to recover the oil from the washing process. In

this process lots of residual coconut meat remains, and this is further

squeeze/pressed to extract as much oil as possible. Then reaming boiled meat

which contained lots of fat and is fed mainly to pigs. The oil extracted from this

process is mainly used for cooking and application on skin & hair.

The other methods used to produce coconut oil are VCO & RBD methods.

Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is produce by the used of fresh coconut meat and milk. Producing it from the fresh meat involves removing the shell and washing,

then either wet-milling or drying the residue, and using a screw press to extract

the oil. VCO can also be extracted from fresh meat by grating and drying it to

a moisture content of 10–12%, then using a manual press to extract the oil.

Producing it from coconut milk involves grating the coconut and mixing it with

water, then squeezing out the oil. The milk can also be fermented for 36–48

hours, the oil removed, and the cream heated to remove any remaining oil.

Refined Bleach and Deodorized (RBD) oil is made from dried coconut kernel (Copra). Copra is dried in direct sunlight and/or kiln to remove the moisture

within the meat. The copra is then desiccated (Chop up) and placed through

a heated Expeller Press where the oil is extracted. The Oil here is Crude Oil and

is filtered, tested for Free Fatty Acids (FFA) content and batched processed,

where Refining will take palace.

This “crude” coconut oil is not suitable for consumption because it contains

contaminants and must be refined with further heating and filtering.

The first step is the removal of the FFA’s through the use of Caustic Soda,

followed by Bleaching with Activated Fullers’ Earth; which allows for the

stabilization of the color and finally; Deodorization which is done at 200 Degrees

Centigrade to allow for stripping of the oil volatile components and odors.

Further filtering is done before bottling.

Unlike virgin coconut oil, refined coconut oil has no coconut taste or aroma. RBD

oil is used for home cooking, commercial food processing, and cosmetic,

industrial, and pharmaceutical purposes.

Some Brands of Coconut Oil In Guyana

Own Experience - POM’s Way of Processing of Coconut Oil

POM has been producing Crude and RBD Coconut Oil since 1999 for both the local

and export markets. The process is as was described above and illustrated below.

Processing Copra for Oil.

Source Copra FarmersTransport to

Processing

Plant

Store Copra @

Processing Plant

Processing Copra

Desiccated

Expeller Pressed

through a heating

process – Crude

Oil is Produce

Crude Oil is filtered

and tested for FFA

content batched

processed

Removal of the

FFA through the

use of Caustic

Soda

Bleaching with

Activated

Fullers’ Earth

Deodorization

which is done at

200 Degrees

Centigrade

Filtering

of OIL Bottling &

Packaging

Marketing &

Distribution

During the years of processing, POM was able to take away some key pointers

that influences the quality of the Oil produced;

1) Nuts for Oil should be at least 12 months and the best varieties to use are

the 5 years and the bastards.

2) Copra must be dried; in Guyana, this is either Sundried or Kiln Dried and

depending on the production process the quality of copra will

determines the refinery losses. Sundried copra is of a higher quality.

3) Storage; it POM’s experience that is best to keep the dried Copra away

from moisture and stored in a cool, dry, well ventilated place and any

foreign odors. However, these are not always achieved, since raw

materials are sourced from different suppliers, all of whom have his/her

challenges; mainly transportation and storage.

Other challenges exits are 1) not enough raw materials; this is as a result of

abundant and underproduction of farms (main reasons; negative publicity

Coconut Oil received and Better Paid Jobs e.g. Mining) and 2) Little or No

support from key stakeholders’ e.g. Government.

However, the challenges did not restricted POM and when commenced its

operation bridged most of these gaps e.g. have its own transportation to go by

the farmer to collect their Copra, onsite inspection and grading before

procurement are made, packaged in clean bags and investment in POM’s own

farms.

For the Negative Publicity, POM have a continuous development approach and

tries the best to meet customers/consumers demands and as well as regulatory

requirements. When commenced its operation, coconut oil was already been

influenced by the negative publicity, but the then CEO wanted to obtained

better markets for his and other farmers produce and decided that processing

for both crude and refined coconut oil will aid in this.

POM firstly marketed its produce branded, “Vegetable Oil” as a result of

consumers’ demands and marketing campaigns promoting vegetables oils;

soya and corn as superior to coconut oils. After some years on the market, POM

took the brand off in 2006 as cheaper imported oils dominated the locally

market. However, POM still continued to export its crude oil which was able to

sustain the company.

Given the “New Buzz” of coconut oil, POM re- launched its Brand in 2013,

acknowledging the Coconut Oil present, branding it; “Golden Brook Coconut

Oil”. The focus was on the health benefits. Today POM enjoys a decent share on

the local market, with a steady increase. Exports are also looking up as POM’s;

Golden Brook Coconut Oils can be found in; Suriname, Jamaica, Barbados,

Dominica and interest in Trinidad, St. Lucia, and USA.

State, Challenges and Opportunities of

Coconut Oil in Guyana Currently, Coconut Oils occupied a very small segment of the Oil market in

Guyana, mostly dominated by the “Bottom House” operations quality of

coconut oil. This is cheaper than industrial manufacturing such as POM’s and

customers are happy to pay the cheaper prices more so because of their

limited spending power. However, customers are slowing recognizing better

quality and packaged products as increase can be seen in sales at POM.

Most Customers/Consumers still believes that Coconut Oils are not good to use

in your diet and can only be concluded that this is as a result of the negative

marketing. They believed that it should be used only on Hair & Skin. Also, the

demographic is of the older age group, since young people thinks that

coconut oils will make them smell like coconuts, food taste like coconut and

even make get diarrhea.

Major Challenges Aged Trees – Some between 60-100 years old.

Pest & Diseases – Red Palm Mites heavily impacting production.

High Prices – Compared to Competing Brands.

Stigma to Coconut Oils – Negative Publicity

Limited Raw Materials - Abundant & Underdeveloped Coconut Farms,

Competition from other coconut products e.g. Fresh and Bottled Coconut,

Fresh/Dry Coconut for Export.

Access to Finance for Small & Medium Scale farmers.

Limited or No Planting Materials to Replant.

Taxes; Import duties, VAT, etc.

Limited/Slow Support from Government.

Need for Internationally recognized Standards; HACCP, USFDA and ISO.

Supply Chain Management.

Opportunities

Coconut Oils as mentioned earlier is the “New Buzz” around the world and we

have been receiving lots of attention from external markets. Request are now

been made for large quantities of Virgin Coconut Oil, Refined Coconut Oils

and even Coconut Cosmetic Oils.

Globally, there has been an increase in coconut oils consumption; in cooking

of foods, medicines, cosmetics; soaps, shampoo etc. These are all positive signs

of a prosperous industry in the very near future. Also, increases can be seen in

demands/consumptions for Coconut Milk/Cream and Desiccated Coconuts.

However, to service and sustain these markets a TEAM approach needs to be

taken on, where all the stakeholders (Government, its Agencies and Private

Sector) understands and accepts their roles.

A start has been made through the National Stakeholders’ Platform, thanks to ITC and CARDI. The Platform has also received positive response from the

Ministry of Agriculture in Guyana of their support, now it’s to actual put this into

practice. The Platform will also be transform into the Coconut Authority/Broad,

which will work with Government to bring development and address the needs

of the coconut Industry.

Pictures of Pomeroon Oil Mill’s Coconut Oil.

POM’s USFDA Compliant Label.

Some of POM’s other Products.