Demand for the antioxidant-rich rice bran oil is rising exponentially on the back of increased health consciousness among urban people
The 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.
Consumers started switching to rice bran oil from soybean oil, according to Moinur Rahman, marketing manager of ACI Consumer Brands, which markets the ACI Nutrilife brand of rice bran oil. But it was not all plain sailing. Introduced in Bangladesh in 2011, the cooking oil had to get past plenty