Coconut oil – a raw material in high demand
2012 2013 2014 2015
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demand over the past two decades. This is, to a great
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opportunities. It’s not only coconut oil that has increased
in demand, it’s coconut in all its forms – virgin coconut oil,
coconut powder, coconut sugar and, of course, coconut
water – which often compete in the market.
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In order to secure the future global supply of coconuts, a
vast replanting scheme is necessary. Coconut trees take
a relatively long time to bear fruit and in order to make
the industry sustainable from an environmental, social
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is needed.
As a start in tackling some of the main challenges in
the coconut industry AAK recently partnered up with
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productivity of coconut trees and the lack of access
to markets as the two major problems for coconut
farmers. Therefore, the company decided to develop a
new, direct supply chain.
Together with its partner mill AAK sends a barge
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the farmers. That way the farmers don’t have to worry
about transporting the coconuts. AAK also provides
training on good agricultural practices to improve farm
health and to increase production.
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our copra to middlemen at the collection point”, says
Hamid, who is the chief of farmers in AAK’s partner
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mill come to our village directly and collect the copra
from us. There is a big difference between selling to
AAK and selling to the middlemen. We receive better
money from AAK and their partner mill and this is
very motivating for the farmers to deliver more copra
and with better quality.”
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One of AAK’s main goals with the direct supply chain
is to convince the farmers to invest in their coconut
trees since they can get better harvests and a better
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coconut trees not only improve farmers’ livelihoods,
they are important for other reasons as well.
“Many tropical islands risk being hit by devastating
storms and coconut trees play a crucial role in
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Schlebes. “Investing in coconut plantations is, in
other words, not only important to secure future
supply but also to protect the environment and
people’s homes.”
Sustainability within the coconut supply chain
is gaining more traction and the industry aims to
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we can learn from sustainability experiences in the
palm oil industry, picking out best practice to apply to
coconut production.
“With the challenging situation the coconut industry
currently is in, it makes perfect sense to invest in
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supply chain in order to develop the industry and to
secure future supply. Since there is no sustainability
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collaboration between stakeholders such as businesses,
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positive change and we at AAK are determined to do
our part.”
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2012 2013 2014 2015