Minister Teten Yakin Keberadaan Minyak Makan Merah Akan Sejahterakan Petani

Farmers transport palm fruit bunches in Musi Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, Friday (2/8/2024). ANTARA/HO-Kemenkop UKM.

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM), Teten Masduki believes that the existence of red food oil will bring and improve welfare for oil palm farmers.

This was revealed by Minister Teten during the groundbreaking of the construction of the Red Food Oil Factory of the Prosperous Village Unit (KUD) Cooperative in Musi Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, Friday, August 2.

"As stated by the President (Joko Widodo) that there must be an increase in the welfare of farmers. If possible farmers get added value from their oil palm plantations, not only will FFB be sold but can be processed. Thus, this red food oil can be felt later it will cause changes to the welfare of farmers," said Teten.

Teten said that the processing of palm oil into red food oil can be done in a simple process, but it has superior value due to high nutritional content with pro vitamins A and E.

He emphasized that cooking oil, which is usually consumed by the public and is clear in color, is one of the standards to enter the European market. Thus, the red color that contains a lot of vitamins is even thrown away.

"I've tried several times of red cooking oil with professional chefs. They tested it. They are food artists. They say this oil is beautiful. They try to make deep farming and taste has not changed and the nutrition is high. So this oil is in addition to good quality and nutrition, it tastes delicious and the price is cheap," he said.

Even Teten said, his party had already received a testimonial downstream which said that red food oil should not be sold cheaply because it could be a premium product.

"So, when the market receives this potential it can become premium oil. Because there are many benefits in the content," he said.

According to Teten, for a thousand hectares (ha) of land built by a red food oil factory, it can produce 7.5 tons per day. This amount is said to be sufficient for the community to absorb in two surrounding sub-districts.

The construction of a red food oil factory in Musi Banyuasin Regency has a land area of 3,018 ha with a planned production capacity of red food oil reaching 0.5 tons per hour. The marketing target of this red food oil itself is for 15 sub-districts in Musi Banyuasin Regency.

"Hopefully the construction will not stagnate because the presence of this red food oil has been awaited by importers, restaurant networks and so on," he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Prosperous KUD Muhammad Tamrin said that the Prosperous KUD had been built since 1984 and currently has 2,206 ha of land with 1,536 members. Assets from the Prosperous KUD alone reached more than Rp110 billion.

Currently, he said, the construction of a CPO factory in the area has only reached 46 percent. Later, the factory will be integrated with a red food oil factory.

"We have a small business that manages food, transportation and many more. We need information and protection from the central government regarding the development of this red food oil," he added.