05/07/2013 (The Star) - They have been consuming Nutella all their lives, but this was the first time they came face-to-face with the plant that makes it all possible: the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis).

Three Frenchmen were given the opportunity to touch real oil palm last week after winning the Win A Trip to Malaysia competition, organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) to promote the benefits of palm oil as well as to educate French consumers on the truths behind the much-maligned crop (at least in Europe).

Stephane Levy, Patrick Lombard and Mimoun Zeghdad were chosen from the thousands of entries detailing how palm oil had positively impacted their lives.

The competition was promoted via online and social media, which form a key part of MPOC’s efforts to promote palm oil in Europe.

The winners also got to bring along a travelling companion each for this week-long, all expenses-paid educational holiday, which started with a morning visit to Felda Global Venture’s (FGV) plantation in Besout, located close to the town of Sungkai in Perak.

They were briefed by estate manager Ayazi Saleh on the fundamentals of estate management — frond pruning, fresh fruit bunch harvesting and fertiliser application.

Other than seeing and touching an oil palm tree for the first time, the trio also got the opportunity to try their hand at pruning and harvesting.

A banker from the Alsace region, Levy took on the challenge of performing the task that seemed easy to the estate workers.

“I found that pruning is actually quite a skilled job, and lifting the fruit bunch (about 15kg) is not an easy task after all,” he said.

The participants were also taken to Sabah to witness how oil palm and nature can co-exist.

Among the places they visited were the biodiversity-rich area of the lower Kinabatangan river basin, as well as other popular attractions in Kundasang, Poring and Kota Kinabalu.

One of their favourites was the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre at Sandakan, where they saw how determined effort was put in to help the highly endangered species.

MPOC chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron said the council received many creative and knowledgeable entries from French consumers explaining the importance of oil palm in their daily life.

“It is heartening to know that so many French consumers are supportive and understand the facts about oil palm,” he said