Palm Oil has seen increasing demand in Europe over the last twenty years. It is needed in food preparation to supplement insufficient local production of oils and fats. Nett imports of oils and fats by the EU amount to 8 to 10 million tonnes per year making up one third of annual consumption and most of these imports are made up of palm oil.
In recent years, the Europeans have been fed with misinformation through negative campaigns by environmental NGOs. Most customers of palm oil are secretly praying that the current controversy over this popular commodity will be resolved soon. They want to continue concentrating on their core business of producing products where palm oil is a desirable component because of its superior techno-economic attributes. They need palm oil to enable them to make profitable and affordable products for the depressed European economy.