Spondon oil returns
Emerald Oil Industries is bringing rice-bran oil Spondon back to the market amid a crisis and rising prices of the cooking ingredient.
Spondon – the almost forgotten rice-bran and "heart-friendly" cooking oil – is all set to hit the market next week although its formal inauguration of production and marketing will take place on 28 June.
According to the company's target, people can buy the oil in one-litre, two-litre, and five-litre bottles from next week.
Emerald Oil Industries – the producer of the rice-bran oil – plans to cater for Dhaka first, and gradually it will expand the marketing network to the whole country.
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Rice bran is one of the main by-products in the process of rice milling and is available in the whole country.
Md Afzal Hossain, managing director of Emerald Oil, told The Business Standard, "All the processes for oil production have been completed. Despite final preparations for oil production, it had not been possible earlier due to the gas crisis. Because the required gas was not found."
"Although gas is needed continuously for 24 hours, it is not available. There is only a five-hour supply of gas. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) gas will be used to overcome this crisis. LPG gas connection is completed. Production will start in a day or two," he added.
Afzal Hossain said the cost is high as there is no gas supply officially.
"Still, we want to keep oil prices reasonable. Now, the price will be close to soybean oil. The price of oil is Tk220 per litre. A two-litre bottle will cost Tk430 and a five-litre bottle will cost Tk1,050," he added.
After a four-year halt to production due to loan scams by its owners, Minori Bangladesh – a subsidiary of Japanese farming company Minori Co Limited – extended its hand to manufacturing the oil after taking over sponsor-directors shares of Emerald Oil Industries.
After the production disruptions since 2017, Emerald Oil Industries' full-fledged production started in January this year with a fresh investment by Minori Bangladesh.
The production of the company is now running, and using available raw materials from rice bran, Emerald Oil has been producing crude oil and DORB oil.
Now, it will produce cooking oil Spondon.
The comeback story of Emerald Oil
Emerald Oil Industries was established in 2008 with a mission to produce edible oil – a common item for preparing daily foods.
It started its journey in 2011 to produce hygienic, nutritious, and quality refined rice bran edible oil Spondon.
The brand has successfully created a vibrant market in the country.
The company got listed on the capital market in 2014 by raising funds for business expansion.
After three years of listing, the company fell into crisis and became non-operative due to a loan scam by its owners.
Minori Bangladesh took over Emerald Oil Industries' sponsor-directors shares last year, on the condition of fresh investment as working capital and taking responsibility for taking care of its defaulted loans.
Also, Minori Bangladesh bought around 8% shares of the company from the public market.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) had reconstructed the sick Emerald Oil Industries' board for the betterment of the company.
After a hiatus of four years, the company had successfully returned to full-fledged production after nearly a year of hard work by the reconstructed board and the help of the stock market regulator.
According to the company, rice-bran oil is extensively used in Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Thailand as a premium edible oil.
In Japan, it is popularly known as "Heart Oil".
