By: Gilarsi Wahju Setijono

Dream of the Kabayan in the Palm Garden

Try, imagine a moment: You are a palm farmer in Riau who has just harvested fresh fruit bunches in bright red like sunset in the Sumatran horizon. The fruit is rich in beta-carotene up to 6,700 micrograms per 100 grams-after 15 kilograms of carrots! The vitamin E is abundant, the antioxidant is abundant like the treasure that has just been dug from the bowels of the earth. Tokotrienol and tokopferol are many times higher than olive oil that are worshiped as "Liquid Gold" in the Mediterranean.

However, three months later, when the product finally reached the supermarket in a colorless clear cooking oil package, the remaining pale shadow of the original nutritional wealth. Like the Kabayan who dreamed of finding gold but woke up with the grip of empty land, we have changed the "red gold" into a "baking sheet" in the form of transparent fat.

Our country, which controls 60% of world palm oil production, has created one of the most ironic paradoxes in the history of the global food industry. We have palm fruit whose vitamin A content exceeds any superfood in the world, but instead we ourselves are the most diligent in eliminating the superiority of these nutrients through a refining process that is almost obsessive. It is as if we were trained by the colonial tempo to be only good at extracting raw materials, not processing them into high-value products.

Nutrition Lobotomy: World Class Theft Technology

The Bleaching Process that we are proud of-which is able to absorb 95-97% carotenoids of palm oil-is actually the most advanced "theft of nutritional" technology in the world. Imagine if there were thieves who were so expert that they were able to take 97% of the contents of the safe without damaging the bar. That's what we do with our own palm oil. In Javanese, this is like "nrima ing pandum but ora nrima ing blessing" - accepting fortune but not accepting his blessings.

Deodorization technology at a temperature of 270 ° C that we rely on to eliminate the smell and taste of palm oil is actually the "Lobotomy of Nutrition". Like brain surgery that eliminates the patient's personality to make him more "calm", this process does produce neutral and stable oil, but at the expense of all the health potential contained in it. Vitamin E and toxotrienols - Atioxidants of super which have the potential to prevent Alzheimer's and heart disease - vibrates with hot steam in a vacuum such as hope that vanished in the middle of the crisis.

What is more terrible, the sterilization process at 143 ° C carried out at the beginning of the processing has trimmed most of the carotenoid content. Then proceed with a series of other "cleaning" processes: degumming, neutralization, until the peak of deodorization which removes the last traces of the great nutrition of palm fruit. We are like a surgeon that is so obsessive making surgical wounds look "clean" that it damages the vital organs of the patient.

Sakali Dayuang, two three Talampaui islands ... in the wrong direction

While European countries are now competing to develop "Red Palm Oil" which maintains the natural red color and its carotenoid content, we are actually proud of "clean" CPOs and "clear" PKOs. They sell red palm oil as a premium product for 10 times ordinary palm oil, while we are satisfied as suppliers of raw materials which are then imported again as finished products at exorbitant prices. This irony is reminiscent of the Minang proverb: "Sakali Dayuang Two Three Talampaui Islands" - once rowing, two three islands are exceeded. Unfortunately, we row in the wrong direction.

In the United States, Red Palm Oil is sold as a superfood for $ 25 per liter, with claims as "Nature's Most Potent Source of Vitamin A and E." Meanwhile, raw CPO from Indonesia which is the raw material is valued at no more than $ 800 per ton - or around $ 0.80 per liter. This 3000% markup is not just a profit margin, but a reflection of how we have failed to understand the true value of what we produce.

What is sadder, while the food industry in South Korea and Taiwan is competing to develop a functional food that is enriched with nutrition, the Indonesian palm industry actually pursues international standards that require oil "color -free and odor". We are like batik artists who are forced to make plain white cloth because that is what the global market is requested. In this context, the phrase "Meeting International Standards" into euphemism to "Eliminate Local Excellence".

Batik artists who were forced to paint white canvas

In fact, if we want to learn from Vietnam who succeeded in changing the image of his Robusta coffee from "second-class coffee" to a specialty coffee with a unique taste, Indonesian red palm oil should be able to become the world's superfood premium. The carotenoid content which is equivalent to 15 kilograms of carrots per 100 gram is not a weakness that must be eliminated, but the advantage that must be proud of. However, instead of developing technology to maintain nutrition while still producing quality products, we choose a shortcut: remove everything that is colored, leave transparent.

If in Japan they develop technology to maintain nutrition in processed foods, we instead develop technology to eliminate it with high efficiency. This is like having the most complete library in the world but chooses to burn his book to get a "clean and neat" empty space. They create microencapsulation technology to protect vitamins from damage during processing, while we create technology to destroy vitamins perfectly.

In this context, PKO (Palm Kernel Oil) becomes its own tragedy. Since the beginning has been poor in carotenoids and vitamin E because it comes from the core of the seeds, the same purification process makes PKOs have almost no nutritional value except as a source of saturated fat. As the saying the Sunda says, "Teu aya carcass, crows come" - there is no carcass, crow does not come. PKO we have been like a nutritional carcass from birth, then we make sure it really dies with a cruel purification process.

Gold Mining Without Keses Crates

Now, when the world begins to be aware of the importance of natural food and natural antioxidants, Indonesia sits on nutritional treasure but has no key to opening it. We are like gold mining owners who only know how to dig the ground, do not know how to purify gold without damaging its purity. We sell raw CPOs that are rich in beta-carotene cheap abroad, then imported again as a supplement of vitamin A for hundreds of thousands of rupiah per bottle.

This irony is increasingly felt when seeing how Malaysia began to develop "gentle refining" technology which maintains some of the carotenoidal content in its palm oil. While Thailand invests massively in research to optimize the content of toxotrienols in their palm derivative products. The two countries learned from Indonesia's mistakes that were already trapped in the mindset of "International Standard Commodities".

In the increasingly aware of this global context, Indonesia is at a crossroads: Becoming a Functional Palm Oil Revolution Leader, or still survives as a provider of raw commodity that is poor in added value. Like gold traders who can only sell used land for excavation because they do not know how to process their gold.

Nutrition drama on the global stage

What is more intriguing, the supplement industry in Europe and America is now diligent in promoting "Palm Tocotrienols" as Breakthrough Anti-Aging Supplement at fantastic prices. They tokotrienol, while we make waste processing palm oil that we make cooking oil, then sell it as a premium product. This is like watching a drama where the antagonist succeeds in reselling the items that have been discarded by the protagonist at a double price.

Meanwhile, the Red Palm Oil sold in European organic shops is packed in a luxury glass bottle with the label "Sustainably Sourced From Indonesia" and sells for the equivalent of the best extra virgin olive oil. In fact, red palm oil is none other than raw CPO that has not been processed bleaching - something in Indonesia is considered "not yet" or "half cooked".

When the hands and feet say

Questions that tickle at the same time troubling are now raising: can we develop palm processing technology that maintains nutrition without sacrificing quality? Or will we continue to be trapped in the syndrome "Inlander Mentality" - feel satisfied as a supplier of raw materials to then buy back the product with a multiple price?

Technology is actually available. The cold-pressing method, molecular distillation technology, and selective filtration systems can maintain most of the carotenoids and tookotrienols while still producing high quality oil. What is lacking is not technology, but the courage to get out of the comfort zone as a standard commodity manufacturer and turn into a producer of high differentiation products.

Like the lyrics of the song Chrisye, "When the hands and feet say," Maybe it's time for the hands and feet of the Indonesian palm industry to say to build technology that not only prioritizes quantity and appearance, but also nutritional quality. Do not let later, when our children and grandchildren ask why their ancestors throw vitamin A worth billions of rupiah to make "more beautiful" oil, we can only answer with a sad smile: "Because at that time, beauty is more important than health."

What is needed is Fundamental Shift Paradigm : From the mindset "meets existing international standards" to "create new international standards". From "following the market demand" to "educating the market about the real value". This is not only a matter of technology, but also a matter of courage to dream and confidence to become a trendsetter, not just a follower.

This option is not only a matter of technology or economy, but also a matter of nation's self -esteem which is said to be nicknamed "Emerald Equator". Will we continue to throw diamonds to get a clearer glass? Or will we begin to understand that sometimes, the most valuable is actually hidden behind a "not beautiful" color and a "different" aroma?

Now it's up to us. In Betawi: "Do you want to be a skipper to be a coolie forever?"