BY VG CABUAG, TAKEN FROM THE BUSINESS MIRROR
UNITS of listed chemical firm D&L Industries Inc. (DNL) said they will lead the way toward what they called “green chemistry,” mainly tapping coconut oil, it called the healthiest oil in the world.
“Green chemistry is a new discipline in designing products and processes that optimizes the use of resources and minimizes the generation of waste. We are guided by the principles of green chemistry in the engineering and formulation of our products,” Chemrez Technologies Inc. Managing Director Dean Lao Jr. said.
Chemrez is a unit of D&L.
Lao, also the president of the United Coconut Association of the Philippines, said Chemrez will show how the company responds to this call through its various coconut-derived products, including surfactants, oleochemical intermediates, functional ingredients, cocopure or sulfate free system and petroleum-free bases and coco health and nutrition. “As a vertically integrated partner, Chemrez is competitive at any point of the value chain in maximizing the benefits of the coconut in order to preserve our fragile environment and improve the quality of life,” Lao said.
“Our green initiative is embedded all the way—from coconut-oil refining, oleochemicals manufacturing, concept formulations and private-label manufacturing.”
DNL’s other unit Oleo Fats Inc. is also the market leader in food solutions using coconut-based products and said it is capitalizing on the demand for healthy food.
“With the rising global trend of healthy lifestyle-conscious consumers turning their attention to the nutritive value of that they consume, Oleo Fats has a definite competitive advantage as our company manufactures a variety of coconut-based specialty fats, oils and ingredients,” Oleo Fats Managing Director Vincent Lao said.
He said medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs, for instance, are good oils found in coconut oil and other food since it is more easily absorbed by the body and used as energy, without getting stored as body fat. The company is producing MCT oils.
Both Chemrez and Oleo Fats featured their various coconut-based products during the first World Coconut Congress.
The Philippines is the world’s largest coconut producer and D&L outsources all of its products domestically.
Visit the D&L website here.