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Palm oil, one of the largest consumed vegetable oils, enjoys a market share of 55 to 60 per cent due to its price competitiveness and other factors in the country.
The per capita consumption of edible oil in Bangladesh increased by 20 per cent in the last five years to reach 18.4 kgs in 2020.
On the other hand, overall consumption of edible oil increased by 36 per cent in five years to reach 3.03 million tonnes in 2020 against 2.22 million tonnes in 2015.
The facts were presented at an international webinar titled “Edible Oils & Fats Consumption Trend in Bangladesh” organized by the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC), an inter-governmental organization for palm oil producing countries, said a press release on Wednesday.
The webinar was a part of CPOPC webinar series on “Sustainable palm oil towards a better world” with a special focus on the growing consumption trends of the highest consumed palm oil, its qualitative aspects over other edible oils and its role in meeting the increasing demand of the people and the most crucial SDGs in the country.
Eminent industry experts AKM Fakhrul Alam, Regional Manager, Bangladesh and Nepal, Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC); Dr. Puspo Edi Giriwono, Head, Southeast Asian Food and Agricultural Science and Technology (SEAFAST) Center, IPB University and Faisal Mahmud, Senior Marketing Manager, Bangladesh Edible Oil Ltd (BEOL) discussed the key industry trends, challenges, and recommendations to enhance the market share of palm oil in Bangladesh to meet the ever-growing demands of the country’s consumers.
Dr. Yusof Basiron, Executive Director and Dupito D. Simamora, Deputy Executive Director, CPOPC gave remarks and shared perspectives while Yash Kansal, Deputy Managing Director (India), APCO Worldwide moderated the webinar.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Yusof Basiron said, “Bangladesh plays a major role in the palm oil industry as the nation is one of the largest consumers and importers of palm oil in the world. Palm oil is widely used in every household, food-processing industries and hotels across Bangladesh. Most of the Bangladeshi dishes that we are familiar with such as Biryani, Khichuri, and others use palm oil because its quality influences the flavour and the stability of the food.”
AKM Fakhrul Alam said that Bangladesh is playing an important role in the international edible oil market.
“Bangladesh is mostly dependent on the imports of palm oil with increase in the consumption of oils and fats as to cope up with these demands imports eventually increases.”
However, from 2019, a slight decline is observed in the imports of palm oil due to the pandemic, he highlighted.
