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OILS, FATS & WAXES
THE US COOKING OIL market is preparing for a new entry following the decision by Japanese based-Kao Corporation and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) to form a joint venture for diacylglycerol (DAG) oil, which is being positioned as a healthy ingredient for the food industry.
Late last month, Kao and ADM signed a letter of intent to form a 50/50 joint venture for the manufacturing, marketing and sales of DAG oil in the US, EU, Australia and South America (CMR 315/01, pg. 5). The patented oil is now sold in Japan as the primary material in Kao's Econa cooking oil, with sales expected to reach up to YO billion ($83 million) in this fiscal year ending, March 31, 2001.
"Econa now enjoys a leading position in the premium Japanese cooking oil," says a Kao official. "Despite the fact that the overall market for cooking oils has been shrinking annually, the market for premium cooking oils was 1.5 percent larger last year than in 1999-expanding to a scale of Y 13 billion based on retail price," he adds. The overall market for Japanese cooking oils in 2000 was estimated at around...