The Central Terengganu Development Authority (KETENGAH) has come up with its own brand of cooking oil that is expected to hit the market in September.
KETENGAH General Manager Datuk Tengku Ahmad Nadzri Tengku Musa said today the K-Desa cooking oil would be marketed through subsidiary KETENGAH Holding Sdn Bhd (KHSB).
Parent company KETENGAH had invested RM3 million to build a cooking oil packaging plant in Bandar Al-Muktafi Billah Shah near here, he said during a ‘Sentuhan Kasih Desa Terengganu’ community programme in that town.
Tengku Ahmad Nadzri said that every month the plant, with a capacity of 92,000 tonnes, can produce 156,000 bottles of cooking oil of various sizes - 17 kg, five kg, three kg, one kg and 500 millilitres.
He said the cooking oil can match the quality of popular brands in the market but it would be sold at a lower price.
"This is one of the company’s efforts to help the community reduce the cost of living that is rising due to the increase in the prices of goods and food,” he said, adding that a five-kg bottle of the K-Desa cooking oil would be priced at RM28 instead of the standard market price of RM32.
Tengku Ahmad Nadzri said the product had received the approval of all relevant agencies, and suppliers were being sought to distribute the oil throughout the peninsula, with priority to be given to agencies under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry.
"Besides advancing the economy of agencies under the ministry, it is also in line with the government’s intention to encourage the development of the downstream sector and raise the level of sustainability in the palm oil industry,” he said.
Tengku Ahmad Nadzri said that in addition to involvement in the oil palm plantation and milling sector, the production of cooking oil was also expected to be able to generate large profits for the company due to the high demand for the commodity from consumers.
"As everyone is aware, about 120,000 hectares in KETENGAH are agricultural land and much of that is under oil palm.
"KETENGAH itself has four companies cultivating oil palm on 10,000 hectares, with two oil processing mills. So, we felt that there should be another chain … a plant that can process oil directly for community use,” he said.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency