Consumer Awareness of Palm Oil as an Ingredient in Food and Non-Food Products

Abstract

Vegetable oil crop production has increased faster than other food or industrial crops in recent years. Palm oil which is widely grown in tropical areas has become the most internationally produced and traded oil with detrimental effect to the natural environment and the sustainability of producing communities. The general perception of the industry conveys a negative image to consumers. To better understand the extent consumers' perception of palm oil products would inform stakeholders in the sector 25 one-to-one interviews using the means-end laddering technique (Olson and Reynolds, 2001) were carried out to elicit attributes which led to the establishing of value perceptions of products containing palm oil. Pal production practices have elicited negative Environmental Concern Values regarding the availability of resources for future generations. Environmental consciousness seems to be an important attribute marketers should take into account when both developing and promoting products. However, consumers' perception of palm oil as a product ingredient was regarded as minimal. Palm oil was perceived as being a more natural product whose naturalness could be exploited regarding 'physical wellbeing' values leading helping consumers achieve a health life and higher selfstem.

Twitter communication of agri‐food chain actors on palm oil environmental, socio‐economic, and health sustainability

“…on transparency labels for food ingredients entered into force in 2014 (among others, Euromonitor, ; El Mundo, ; The Guardian, ; Huffingtonpost Italy, ; Le Figaro, ; Spiegelonline, ). The new regulation requires food manufacturers to disclose explicitly the list of ingredients used, thereby making consumers aware about the extensive use of palm oil (Aguiar, Martinez, & Caleman, ; European Parliament Regulation No. 1169, ).…”

“…Food safety, healthy food, and food sustainability are sensitive issues for consumers (Black & Cherrier, ; Disdier et al, ; Kayser, Boehm, & Spiller, ; Aguiar et al, ; Kuttschreuter et al, ; Luomala, Paasovaara, & Lehtola, ;). Nowadays, user‐generated contents (microblogging, social network, and content community) provide agri‐food chain actors with the capability to communicate at a low cost and with a potential massive influence at the global level (Smith, Fischer, & Yongjian, ; Verbeke, ).…”

Treatment of Palm Oil Refinery Effluent Using Tannin as a Polymeric Coagulant: Isotherm, Kinetics, and Thermodynamics Analyses

“…Palm oil is the most used vegetable oil and agricultural product worldwide. The demand to produce palm oil is increasing, owing to its multipurpose application in both food and non-food products [ 1 ]. At present, palm oil is used as a viable feedstock to produce biodiesel due to its lower price and elevated oil yield compared with other edible oils [ 2 ].…”

“…The oil palm cultivation and the production of palm oil have contributed significantly to the Malaysian national economic growth. However, the production of palm oil is producing a huge quantity of solid waste and industrial effluents in the forms of empty fruit bunch (EFB), mesocarp fiber, palm kernel shell, palm oil refineries effluent (PORE), and palm oil mill effluent (POME) [ 1 , 4 ]. Among the palm oil industry effluent, PORE contains approximately 94–96% water, 4–6% suspended organic particles, and 0.6–0.7% oil [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Smartphone for palm oil fruit counting to reduce embezzlement in harvesting season

“…Palm oil is a plant species that grows in tropical areas. Palm oil is often used as a basic ingredient of products traded internationally, such as alternative energy sources [1] and vegetable oil [2]. In 2013, Indonesia's palm oil land reached 10.6 million ha.…”