Production Technology

Cold mechanical extraction is the only process that preserves the entire bioactive profile of a vegetable oil, tocopherols, sterols, polyphenols, essential fatty acids. Any uncontrolled heat input degrades these compounds irreversibly. Any use of extraction solvents introduces residues that are incompatible with first-level cosmetic and nutraceutical applications.

Folk Oils operates exclusively in cold mechanical extraction across its entire portfolio of 20 vegetable oils. The production parameters, pressure temperature, seed humidity, mechanical pressure applied, contact time, are continuously monitored on each line, for each species, in each batch.

The result is directly readable on the certificate of analysis: peroxide indices systematically low at the end of the press, tocopherol profiles intact, acid indices conform to the most demanding specifications of the international market.

The extraction yield is the main determinant of the cost of producing a vegetable oil. An additional yield point on a high-value species represents a structural economic advantage, not one-off, but permanent, reproduced on each production batch.

Folk Oils has developed and refined its protocols for raw material preparation, grinding calibration, residual moisture control, thermal conditioning before press, to achieve extraction yields among the highest in the sector on the main species in its portfolio.

This efficiency advantage is directly reflected in the cost price of each liter of oil produced. He is the reason Folk Oils can offer analytically flawless oil at a price point that less efficient operators cannot achieve without sacrificing quality.

The extraction of vegetable oil generates a residual solid fraction, cake or press cake, whose functional value is systematically underexploited in conventional industrial models. Most operators dispose of it as a low-value by-product or treat it as process waste.

Folk Oils made the opposite choice.

Our pressure cakes are valued in two complementary streams with high added value. The first is the production of plant proteins, isolates and concentrates from species with high protein content, intended for the food and nutraceutical industries. The second is the extraction of specialty bioactives, sterols, squalene, phenolic compounds, for the advanced cosmetic and precision nutraceutical markets.

This integral valorization of the plant produces a direct and measurable economic effect: the overall production cost is distributed over several simultaneous value streams. The oil no longer has to bear the entire cost of the raw material alone. The result is a price structure that is structurally competitive, sustainable, independent of market fluctuations, and cannot be reproduced by an operator who does not add value to its co-products.

Folk Oils has on-site physical refining capabilities covering all finishing operations required by industrial grades, free acidity neutralization, activated earth decolorization, low temperature vacuum deodorization.

Integrating refining into our own infrastructure has three direct operational benefits for our customers. There is no break in batch traceability between extraction and the refined grade delivered. The refining parameters are adjustable according to customer specifications, target acidity, discoloration level, odor threshold. And the absence of external subcontracting eliminates the delays, additional costs and risks of cross-contamination inherent in using a third-party refiner.

Each Folk Oils production batch undergoes a complete analysis in our internal laboratory before commercial release. Acid number, peroxide number, fatty acid profile by gas chromatography, spectrophotometric indices K232 and K270, humidity, insoluble impurities, the entire analytical panel is carried out systematically, without exception, regardless of volume or destination.

The certificate of analysis is issued under our direct responsibility and transmitted before shipment. For customers operating under strict standards, pharmaceutical markets, third-party organic certifications, international retailer codes, additional analyzes by independent accredited laboratories are available on request.

The degradation of vegetable oil between production and customer reception is a real and measurable risk. Oxidation by contact with air, photooxidation, contamination by migration from the packaging, each of these mechanisms results in an increase in the peroxide index and a degradation of the validated analytical profile.

Folk Oils stores its entire production in closed stainless steel tanks under an inert nitrogen atmosphere, at a controlled temperature and protected from any light exposure. Shipping is carried out in airtight metal drums, IBC or flexitank depending on the volume ordered, with nitrogen blanketing on sensitive grades.

What your receiving laboratory analyzes upon arrival is analytically identical to what our laboratory certified upon departure.