Demand for the antioxidant-rich rice bran oil is rising exponentially on the back of increased health consciousness among urban people, said industry operators.
The rice bran oil is extracted from the hard outer brown layer of rice after husking.
After an intense awareness campaign, particularly among housewives, demand for rice bran oil increased from 15-20 tonnes a day in 2012 to 70-100 tonnes now, according to industry insiders.
One reason for rice bran oil's rising popularity is a reduction in its prices.
The price of each litre of rice bran oil was Tk 40 higher than soybean oil during the initial days. But the gap has now come down to Tk 20 each litre, said Rahman.
Rice bran oil's growing demand has also created expectations of bringing down the country's import dependency for cooking oil.
At present, the country spends over Tk 10,000 crore a year to import 14-15 lakh tonnes of edible oil against the domestic demand of 18 lakh tonnes, according to Bangladesh Bank and industry estimates.
The country produces more than 5 crore tonnes of paddy a year, which yields 40 lakh tonnes of rice bran, according to estimates by agricultural scientists.
The existing players too have expanded their production capacity on the back of the rising popularity.
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