Oil palm crops grow in humid tropical conditions, which can be found 8 – 10 degrees north and south of the equator. Originally found in West Africa, the oil palm tree is now cultivated across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Indonesia and Malaysia are by far the largest palm oil producing nations. Together they account for 85-90 percent of the total production of this vegetable oil. Other important producing countries are Colombia, Nigeria and Thailand.

After being harvested, the red fruit bunches are delivered to the mills within 24 hours. Once there, these fresh fruit bunches are divided into different groups to check their quality. The ripeness of the oil palm fruit is one of the most important factors that determines the quality of the bunches.

In the processing of fresh fruit bunches, palm oil mills produce palm oil mill effluent, empty fruit bunches, and finally, a mixture of kernel, fibers and oils. All of these elements eventually serve a purpose. But for palm oil, the fruit bunches are the most important element

A next step in this journey is producing the oil. For this purpose, the fruit bunches are treated with steam. This is an important step as it eliminates any bacteria and puts a stop to enzyme activity. In this way, the degradation of the fruit is brought to an end.

In the meantime, the steamer softens the oil palm fruits, which in turn helps to relieve the natural oil. After this steam treatment, the fruit masses, which contain water, oil, fibers, palm kernel are treated to separate all components.

This natural fruit is then put under high pressure to squeeze out the oil and water. As a result, a water-oil mixture is produced. As water and oil do not mix after some time, the palm oil will form an oil layer on the top. In this way, the oil can be then extracted from the water. What it finally results are the first drops of natural crude palm oil. This will need further process at the refinery.