Peanut prices fall, people rush to press oil

(Baonghean.vn) - This year, peanut prices have fallen and it is difficult to sell, so many farmers in Nghi Loc have pressed them to make cooking oil. Peanut and sesame oil pressing facilities have also appeared quite a lot, meeting customers' needs.

Realizing that the market tends to use homemade peanut oil, in May 2017, Mr. Hoang Van Duc in Hamlet 1, Nghi Truong Commune invested 200 million VND to buy a manual peanut oil press. Mr. Duc said: Although it has only been in operation for 2 months, there are many customers bringing peanuts to press for oil. Especially at this time when the farm work has eased, there are days when his house welcomes dozens of customers, pressing nearly 400 kg of peanuts.

Peanut oil pressing facilities are always crowded with customers. Photo: Nhat Tuan

In the key peanut producing communes in the district, almost every commune has people buying machines costing from 150 to 200 million VND to open peanut and sesame oil pressing services. After peeling the peanuts, picking out all the rotten, moldy, and damaged seeds, they are put into the press. The pressed peanut oil is put into a filter pot operated by compressed air, filtering to get pure oil. Every 11kg of peanuts can be pressed to get 5 liters of oil. If the peanuts are good, the oil ratio is even higher. For 10kg of peanuts, the pressing cost is 40,000 VND, the pressing time is only a few dozen minutes.

Customers can "monitor" the entire pressing process, so they can be completely assured of their cooking oil products. Photo: Nhat Tuan

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van in Hamlet 10, Nghi Trung Commune said: “In the past, my family often bought peanut oil from other districts. The oil was pressed using the traditional method: the peanuts were ground, left to ripen, and then pressed for oil. The quality of the oil pressed this way was not as good and could not be stored as long as the oil pressed by the new machines today.”

A liter of peanut oil currently costs VND80,000, nearly double the price of industrial cooking oil sold on the market. However, many farmers still choose homemade peanut oil for their daily meals. According to farmers, customers can directly witness the entire pressing process, do not worry about adulteration, and are completely assured of the quality.

After just a few dozen minutes, more than 10kg of shelled peanuts have become 5 liters of cooking oil. Photo: Nhat Tuan

Mr. Hoang Van Mau - Owner of a peanut and sesame oil pressing facility in Nghi Khanh commune said: This year, peanuts are cheap and hard to sell, so people bring their own peanuts to press for oil, twice as much as last year. Some customers press hundreds of kilograms of peanuts for both personal use and sale. However, because the price is higher than industrial cooking oil, manually pressed peanut oil cannot be sold in the market but can only be sold to relatives and acquaintances. From the end of last year until now, his family has sold nearly 1,000 liters of oil, many of which are customers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Farmers compete to press peanuts for oil, which is also a way to consume part of their agricultural products during the time when agricultural products are "slow".

Nhat Tuan

Nghi Loc Station