Elaeis guineensis originally grew in West Africa. The southern coast of Nigeria was originally called the Palm oil coast by the first Europeans who arrived there and traded in the commodity. This area was later renamed the Bight of Biafra. In traditional African medicine different parts of the plant are used as laxative and diuretic, as a poison antidote, as a cure for gonorrhea, menorrhagia, and bronchitis, to treat headaches and rheumatism, to promote healing of fresh wounds and treat skin infections. In Malaysia, the first plantations were mostly established and operated by British plantation owners, such as Sime Darby and Boustead,
Arla Foods Arla Foods Arla Foods is an international cooperative based in Viby, Denmark, and the largest producer of dairy products in Scandinavia. Arla Foods was formed as the result of a merger between the Swedish dairy cooperative Arla and the Danish dairy company MD Foods on 17 April 2000. The name Arla derives from the same word as the English word "early" and is an archaic Swedish term for "early (in the morning)". In the 1880s, dairy farmers in Sweden and Denmark formed small cooperatives to invest in common dairy production facilities. The first cooperative dairy was established in Sweden at