途上国森林ビジネスデータベース

Diet food

Kolang-kaling cooked in sugar syrup or with spices is widely consumed as confectionery. There is also raw and dried kolang-kaling. In case of A. westerhoutii in Thailand, 30-40 kg of endosperm (loog chid) is expected to be obtained from an infructescence, and the labor to extract the endosperms out of four infructescences from one tree and process them is considered to be about two people and two days. Taking harvesting of endosperms (kolang-kaling) in a producing area in North Sumatra, Indonesia for example, infructescences are regarded as the source of sugar, so 1-2 out of 3-12 are used annually for harvesting of kolang-kaling. About 60 kg of kolang-kaling is produced from an infructescence, and a total of 120 kg is produced from a sugar palm. The purchase price from farmers was 2,500 rupiah/kg (about 2.5 USD/kg) as of 2011, and kolang-kaling is sold at markets in the metropolitan area. The harvest period of the fruit is all year around as it blooms in an irregular manner.

Fleshy liquid that covers the outside of the fruit is used as a fish poison as it has strong causticity and it causes pain and inflammation when it attaches to skin.

Export and import trends and demands in Japan

Harvesting endosperms and molasses from a sugar palm and processing them is labor-intensive so that it is becoming less attractive than plants such as oil palm, coffee, and rubber. For this reason, production in Thailand is on a downward trend while import from Laos is increasing. It costs 0.33-0.54 USD/kg and 600 tons of endosperms are imported annually.

In a certain area in Thailand, people annually gain an income of 3,600 USD per family on average by selling loog chid derived from A. westerhoutii without brokers. In another area, 83 families generate an annual income of 42,500-45,000 USD from only this product, which is second in importance to coffee. In Thailand, agreements on harvesting of the fruits are made with land owners, and the land rent is determined depending on the number of palm infructescences. In 2002, it was 12.5 USD per infructescence. A. pinnata is distributed only in some areas in southern Thailand, and almost all are cultivated or semi-cultivated. The plant is mainly used as a source of molasses gathered from stamen infructescences. In Thailand, A. westerhoutii is the most important palm of its kind. Families get 550-3600 USD from harvesting and selling young endosperms while they get 1250-1600 USD from gathering molasses from A. pinnata. In Laos, the endosperms are important non-wood forest products and 1000 tons or more of them are exported to Thailand. Meanwhile, in North Sumatra in Indonesia, the buying price of kolang-kaling derived from A. pinnata from farmers is around 25,000 rupiah (about 2.5 USD)/kg and annual income from kolang-kaling is reported to be 450 USD as molasses is the staple product and endosperms are only by-products.

As seen above, kolang-kaling is an important income source for local residents in major producing countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Laos, and there are no special legal restrictions regarding harvesting of fruits of this species. In Japan, the traded amount is almost zero, but as there are no special regulations regarding processed import products some traders import a small amount of bottled kolang-kaling/kaon.

Market prospects

In Southeast Asian countries, kolang-kaling is widely used in the form of an ingredient of various confectionery and health foods. It has no special odor or taste so it is highly likely that a market on a considerable scale can be formed in Japan if products that suit Japanese people’s palate are developed. In addition, it has an added value as a healthy diet food as it is low in calories and contains dietary fiber and minerals. There is the possibility that a considerable scale market will be formed by developing products such as low-calorie diet confectionery. It is conceivable that material and product supply from producing countries is relatively easy if products that suit the taste of Japanese people are developed as there are companies that sell kolang-kaling in the form of canned and packed products on a large scale in countries such as Indonesia and Thailand.

The issues at the production sites are that it takes a long period of time until kolang-kaling matures, and blooms and bears fruits (it is said to usually take 10-16 years, but there are reports that say it is 5-6 years), and production of kolang-kaling is labor-intensive so it is costly in high wage areas.