It is an edible vegetable oil that comes from the fruit of oil palm trees, the scientific name is Elaeis guineensis.

Two types of oil can be produced; crude palm oil comes from squeezing the fleshy fruit, and palm kernel oil which comes from crushing the kernel, or the stone in the middle of the fruit.

Oil palm trees are native to Africa but were brought to South-East Asia just over 100 years ago as an ornamental tree crop. Now, Indonesia and Malaysia make up over 85% of the global supply but there are 42 other countries that also produce palm oil.