KUALA LUMPUR: With minimal effort and capitalising on low-cost blockchain technology, stakeholders in the palm oil industry can provide real time digital traceability, Sumwin Group founder and chief executive officer U.R. Unnithan said.
He said this could be a great opportunity, especially for smallholders to embrace sustainability and get adequately remunerated for their efforts.
“This could be a great opportunity for the palm oil industry to demonstrate real time dynamic traceability and visibility, hence, proving that palm oil is indeed produced sustainability and conforms to the “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) norms and appease European Union (EU) countries and the vocal non-governmental organisations who have been very critical of palm oil’s sustainability.”
-Advertisement-
Unnithan said this in a slide presentation titled “Challenges & Opportunities for the Palm Oil Industry in the Areas of Biodiesel, Sustainability & Food Safety” released during a seven-day web-based Palm Oil Internet Seminar (Pointers) organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and Bursa Malaysia from June 22-28.
He therefore encouraged stakeholders in the palm oil industry to adopt Dibiz’s Digital Collaborative platform, a blockchain-powered innovation solution that connected the supply chain.
By having the network effect and data captures, Dibiz can provide value-added benefits incentivising all the stakeholders to collaborate for traceability and be part of the sustainability trading platform.
-Advertisement-
“Dibiz platform can empower enterprises to accomplish 11 out of 17 United Nations sustainable development goals through industry-wide collaboration,” he added.
Meanwhile, Unnithan said food safety was another area the world has shifted its attention to during this crisis.
He said that the European Food Safety Authority has outlined guidelines for the levels of food contaminants such as 3MCPDE & GE in refined palm oil products at 2.5 & 1 PPM, respectively.
The 3MCPDE (3-monochloro-propanediol esters) and GE (glycidyl esters) are substances that can be found in refined oils and fats.
“Therefore, the palm oil industry has another big opportunity to adapt new locally developed technologies that are cost-effective both from a capital expenditure and operating expense perspective to produce refined palm oil products that can comply with 1.25 & 0.5 PPM limits, respectively.
“This will enable palm oil to be on par or better than other refined vegetable oils and capture a bigger market share because of its superior quality, versatility and price competitiveness,” he said.
– BERNAMA