Question 1

Where is Niugini Organics based?

Accepted Answer

Niugini Organics is based in Papua New Guinea - Australia's closest neighbour. 
Our smallholders and our factory, are all located in the same district - that is the Gazelle Peninsula of East New Britain Island. This is close to the capital Rabaul. We also have an office in Melbourne, Australia.

Question 2

How do you say ‘Niugini’?

Accepted Answer

Niugini is simply pronounced the same as the country - 'New Guinea' 
This is the Tok Pisin spelling - the official language of PNG. 
Other companies in PNG have also used this name, such as Air Niugini (major airline) and also Cafe Niugini, a great NITV show on traditional cooking.

Question 3

What do you use coconut oil for?

Accepted Answer

Our Virgin Coconut Oil is a raw product with a wide range of uses. It is delicious in cooking, traditionally used in Asian and South Pacific dishes, and with its high smoke point is suited to higher temperatures than other oils.

It can also be substituted for butter in baking, making it a wonderful vegan substitute for cakes and breads.

Coconut Oil is also wonderful as a raw ingredient - crushed with nuts and cacao, many people are using our oil to create slices, balls, and granolas.

Such a variety of uses!

Coconut oil is also wonderful in hair and skin care, and can be used in many natural body care products such as toothpaste, deodorant and oil-pulling.

Check out our 'Blog & Recipes' for more ideas

Question 4

Are monkeys used to pick the coconuts, or are animals used in any part of the process?

Accepted Answer

No! 
We do not use animals in any stage of production. We have this question quite often as there has been some media coverage of monkeys documented in the picking of coconuts in South East Asia.

We are based in Papua New Guinea, where there are no monkeys, and regardless no climbing is necessary.

Our farming methods are Wild Harvest - which is waiting for the coconuts to drop to the ground, and then collecting the nuts within a month of falling. This gives the right maturity to press the oil.

We do not use any animal products in any of our products, we do not test on animals, no animal environment is destroyed in the production of our products.

Question 5

What should I look for in a premium virgin coconut oil?

Accepted Answer

While coconut oil is a staple of the South Pacific, it is quite new on the market in many countries. How to tell a premium quality coconut oil? See our major criteria below:

* Virgin - virgin coconut oil means not Refined, Bleached, Deodorised (RBD) This is a different definition than in olive oil. All these processes are harmful to the oil, and the health benefits. Usually these processes are employed to improve a low quality oil- in the process they end up worse than where they started!

* Organic - coconut oil is a species easily grown organic as it has its protective husk over the hard shell. It should easily be organic, and if it is not than maybe the environment in which it is processed is not organic.

* Colour - it should be a pure white in solid form, clear in liquid form. Any impurities will sink to the bottom through the oil melting and freezing, so you can check and see if there is any yellow discolouration at the base of a jar.

* Packaging - coconut oil should be packaged in glass so it does not affect the taste

* Single Origin - many oils on the market do not have even a country of origin - this is important as suppliers / farmers may change and the quality of the oil may drastically change

* Taste - Coconut oil can be compared to the scale of quality in other oils, such as Olive oil.It should be light, crisp and clear- with a coconut taste - but no aftertaste. You should be able to eat it off the spoon raw and it will be delicious. A cheap olive oil tastes clammy, thick, with an awful aftertaste. You would probably never consider buying a non-virgin olive oil! The same should be apply to coconut oil - if you have tried coconut oil and not enjoyed the taste- you may want to try a higher quality oil. A difference between Olive and Coconut, is that at present the term 'extra virgin' does not apply to coconut oil - only 'virgin' is used.

Question 6

What are the ingredients in your soaps?

Accepted Answer

Our coconut oil soap range includes the following varieties: Pure (coconut only), Lavender, Patchouli, and Lemongrass. We use essential oils in our soaps, not fragrances. We source our essential oils from Papua New Guinea and Australia where possible. We do not have additives or preservatives.

We also have Lye as an ingredient. We get many questions about this! Lye is a very strong alkaline salt solution. It is known under many names, and all soaps (even liquid soaps) contain this as a preparatory ingredient as it is necessary to have in the production of soap- as it then reacts with a fat (in this case, coconut oil) to produce the soap.

No Lye exists at the end of the process, as it has chemically changed into soap. This is a very traditional soap recipe and you'll see every soap has to have something to react with the fat, otherwise soap cannot be produced.

So Lye exists before manufacture, but does not exist in the finished bar. If the Lye existed in the finished product, then it would indeed give you chemical burns when you used it, and we would not have a product which we could use!

Our soap recipes have been refined over more than 20 years, and our current blend of coconut oil and essential oil is at its best.
In the last few years liquid soaps, body wash, or shower gels have become popular in preference to soap. These are all literally- soap liquified - with added chemicals and ingredients. We encourage everyone to read (and google) ingredient listings on beauty products just as you would with your food products.

We believe using a gentle traditional soap such as ours, which has the benefits of the coconut oil and essential oils, is not at all harsh to the skin. If you have extra sensitive skin, we recommend using our 'Pure' soap (just coconut) - as some people can be sensitive to small amounts of essential oils.

Question 7

Does Niugini Organics use Hexane?

Accepted Answer

No. Our oil has no added chemicals or use any chemicals at any stage of the cold-pressing. It is a 100% raw, cold pressed, organic, virgin coconut oil.

Question 8

What is the difference between Virgin and Extra Virgin Coconut Oil?

Accepted Answer

There is no difference between Virgin and Extra Virgin coconut oil. 
The terminology 'Extra' does not apply to coconut oil. In Olive oil, it refers to first and second pressings of the same fruit. 
Virgin in coconut oil, refers to it being cold-pressed, and therefore RAW (produced under 40 degrees Celsius). So Extra Virgin and Virgin refer to the same quality of coconut oil.

Question 9

Are your products vegan?

Accepted Answer

Yes, all our products are vegan. We also use sustainable wild harvest methods which do not alter the environment.

Question 10

What is the best before on your soap range?

Accepted Answer

Coconut Soaps can last almost indefinitely. 
To get a little technical; the molecular structure of coconut oil has very few double bonds which means that there are few sites for the soap to react with atmospheric oxygen which would cause the product to oxidise and eventually become rancid. 
A quality coconut soap therefore does not need preservatives unlike other soaps. 
Because our soaps utilise natural essential oil rather than perfumes which contain fixatives, the scent given off from the outside of the bar will diminish over time. This will come back as soon as the soap gets wet and starts to wear away.

Question 11

Does coconut oil have any connection to palm oil?

Accepted Answer

No. Palm oil and Coconut oil is a different species. 
Palm oil has had negative coverage, as large areas of land have been destroyed to plant out the Palms in Indonesia & Malaysia, and as a result many animals have lost habitat, including the Orangutang. Coconut Palms grow naturally in Papua New Guinea, and exist on smallholder blocks with many other species. They are not planted out, or use a plantation style of agriculture.

Question 12

Do your soaps contain palm oil?

Accepted Answer

All our products are 100% free from palm oil.

Question 13

How much lauric acid is in your coconut oil?

Accepted Answer

Lauric acid makes up for 44-57% of Coconut Oil’s fatty acid profile.

Frequently asked questions