Personalized Control


One of our strengths is that we carry out the series of processes within not in a massified, automatic manner, but putting all our efforts in applying personalized control and attention to each stage of the process, in order to obtain the best final product possible. The harvesting, hearts of palm cuttings and the selection of each of our fruit is made individually and personally by our staff members. We know, by preparation and experience, how, where and when to cut the fruit so that the heart of palm is soft, tender and delicious

Self-Suficient


We have the advantage of being self-suficient regarding raw material availability, enough physical space, and expertise in the processing technique; these allow us to attend the requests of our clients in an individual base and fulfill their specific preferences and needs concerning product´s texture, flavor, number of fruit per package, packaging presentations, etc

Water Vapor


The only energy source that we need for each of our processes is water vapor. The boiler that generates the water vapor uses vegetable fiber as its only fuel, and this vegetable tissues are industrial remains of neighbour oil palm plantations

Bokashi (Organic Fertilizers)


The main waste materials from our processes are water and hearts of palm´barks, being these returned to our plantations as organic fertilizers (Bokashi). Thus, our whole set of activies is completely sustainable and does not cause any environmental damage

Alternative use of the oil palm fiber as fuel

The most important element for our work within the processing plant is the water vapor, which is generated by an industrial boiler that uses thermal energy (heat). Most of the known boilers use bunker or diesel; nevertheless, we use a more practical and local fuel: the oil palm´s bark. In our surroundings, there are many hectares of oil palm plantations, the fruit is processes in the extracting plants and after the oil is obtained, the residue that remains is the vegetable fiber that we use as fuel. Water circulates through metalic tubes within the burning boiler, heats up, and transforms into water vapor.

The two boilers that generate the water vapor for the PROTROPIC processing plant use the oil palm bark as their only fuel, and its source is our neighbor palm oil extracting plant “La Sexta”.  As a result, our fuel is not only renewable and functional (it has an ideal thermal potential energy), but it is easy to get and relatively cheap and we are also collaborating with other local industries. On the other hand, the ashes, product of the bark combustión inside our boilers, are rich in magnesium and potasium contents, elements that are returned to the soil with the natural fertilizer “bokashi”, the organic product that we also offer.

The water within our processes goes through a natural Vetiver filter where the impurities are absorbed from the water and it is definitively free from pollutants.

Organic fertilizers within the Protropic processing plant

To count with a quality-for-exportation in our products, only 200 grams of heart of palm can be processed and packed in a single can, this from each stem of harvested heart of palm that has a weight of 1500 grams. Thus, each stem has a final production of 1300 grams of waste products.
From this residue material, 300 grams are distributed for free to the surrounding communities to be used as food in small artisanal projects such as poultry, breeding pigs and cattle raising. The other 1000 grams, that consist of the two vegetable protective layers that are kept for the hearts of palm´s stem to reach the processing plant without damage, are used to produce organic fertilizers.
We process 120.000 hearts of palm stems weekly in our processing plant, which generate 120 tons of hearts of palm bark, these are processed in a grinder and inoculated with efficient bacteria (MI) that transform the vegetable tissue into organic matter. The organic fertilizar that we produce at PROTROPIC is called “BOKASHI” a japanese name, since both the bacteria and the technology came from that country.

In an external lower platform we have built a processing area for the organic fertilizer that includes 5 covered containers of 250 square meters each, here we lay the chopped and inoculated heart of palm waste material to be mixed with African palm fiber from a neighbour processing plant.

The palm fiber is used to give body and structure to the organic fertilizer, since the hearts of palm stem has a high concentration of water. We also add the ashes from the boiler combustion (the one that generates water vapor), with high contents of magnesium and potasium, getting rid of these residues in a clean way, returning them as recycled materials to the soil and being friendly with the ecosystem and the local natural resources.

The palm fiber is also inoculated with a solution of efficient bacteria that are activated and produced with molasses and water. We use a special machine to mix these two ingredients each week for five weeks in a row. The active process of the bacteria raise the temperaturae of the Bokashi up to 65 degrees and, as the process continues,

the temperatura decreases and settles at 40 degrees, that is the moment when the organic fertilizer is ready to be transported to the fields. The final procedure consists of introducing the Bokashi in 20 Kg bags and take it to the hearts of palm and oil palm local plantations.

This organic fertilizer improves the soil quality and stimulates the growth of secondary absorbing-roots, which allow the plant to improve its nourishing system, provide nutrients and its high charge of efficient bacteria continues working on the stems and leaves of the heart of palm trees that remain in the fields.

Multiple advantages of the use of organic fertilizers

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Waste Products

A rational and technical procedure is used to treat and return waste products from our industry to the fields
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Recycled

The vegetable fiber that is extracted from our plantation is recycled and returned to the fields as an organic fertilizer
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Plant Nourishing Processes

When using a high percentage of organic fertilizers, the use of artificial substances is reduced and the acidification, erosion, desertification of soils and alterations in the plant nourishing processes are avoided
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Tendencies

We respect and follow the current tendencies to obtain products that are a hundred percent organic, because we care for the health of our consumers and the conservation of the environment
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Costs

We reduce the costs of our processes by producing and using our own natural fertilizers, because we care for the pocket of our consumers and want to keep their preference