Creating Sumatera Oil

Coconut Selection

On the remote atoll of Hinako, off Nias Island in North Sumatra, over 100klm from the Indonesian mainland, you will find five villages all of which have coconut farning as the major, be it small, industry. Within these villages are farmers who have become suppliers to Sumatera Oil. These farmers have committed to not using chemicals, and in most cases have not even considered their use as the coconuts successfully grow wild in any case. Following the tsunami and quake when coconut prices were extraemely low these farmers were relieved to find a new market in Sumatera Oil, especially one that committed to paying a fair and generous price that their families could depend on. These farmers collect and de-husk mature coconuts and take them to the Fanhika processing plant in carts as there are no vehicles except for one motorbike on the island.

Fanhika Hinako Supports Coconut Kids Club

Fanhika Hinako, a business entity started by LEAP and Sumatera Oil, now handed over to tranined and supported local owners has an MOU with Sumatera Oil and LEAP to donate 30% pf their profits toward the running costs of the LEAP Training Centre on Hinako Island and another on Asu Island approximately 30 minutes from Hinako Island by boat.


These learning centres provide educational
opportunities that children and adults would never
otherwise have access to, especially the poorest
of the poor from among the villages.

 
Some of the facilities have been donated, others such as the playground have been built by volunteers, however the physical upkeep and wages for local staff to sustain the facility are provided by sales of Sumatera Oil.

 

Once the de-husked coconuts arrive at the processing site they are allocated to the village group, the amount recorded and the farmer paid. Next the nut is opened and the meat removed. From here the process moves swiftly to ensure the integrity of the oil is not compromised.





 

The meat is then shredded into what appears to be dessicated coconut as you might buy it in the supermarket, except that it still contains liquid in the form of milk and oil. This is then pressed to extract the milk which looks in colour and viscosity just like regular milk. No heat is used, and nor would it be of any use. The term 'cold pressed' has much more relevance to olive oils. There are other issues related to coconut oils and these will be explained further below.



The coconut milk then naturally separates from the oil. No heating or chemical methods are used to maximise the extraction. Sumatera Oil did extensive research to discover the best natural method, and as it turns out a 'traditional process' from an elderly local had much to do with the success of the process.



Next the oil has any moisture extracted and is filtered twice to ensure any impurities are removed, it is then checked before being packaged ready to leave remote Hinako Island on its journey to kitchens around the world.

Copra Based Oils

These coconut oils deviate from the process above in a significant way. After being removed from the nut the meat is preserved for the journey to the processing. In most cases this is done by the farmer in an outdoor hut, by burning the coconut husk under a rack which has on it the coconut meat, above the meat is a woven palm leaf roof to maximise the smoky atmosphere. In the process the meat should be thoroughly dried, however, often it is charred or goes moldy in varying degrees depending on its position in relation to heat, smoke and flame. In any case the copra will absorb carbon from the smoke.

The copra is then transported to a factory for processing. Here it may even be 'cold pressed' as heat is not necessarily required to extract the oil. This is why coconut oil which accurately claims to be cold pressed may not be claiming anything of value if they are pressed from copra. These copra based oils are identifiable by their yellow or rusty tint when liquid, or grey colour when solid. They may also have a strong odour largely from the smoke. Some copra abased oils, are bleached and deodorised to remove the colour and odour.