African countries of the Guinean gulf are traditional red palm oil (RPO) producers and eaters. Nowadays oils and fats consumption per capita is regularly increasing as a result of economic development. In parallel, health problems associated to obesity, type 2 diabetes and vitamin A deficiency are booming. In the southern Cameroon, people are using both industrial and artisanal RPOs. The production of the latter, sold on the informal market out of any quality control, is rising due to the development of small-scale mills. In such a context, our aim was to relate the chemical quality of artisanal RPO to producing conditions, and to depict the factors which determine the housewife choice criteria for specific culinary applications of RPO. Chemical analysis of RPOs sampled at 32 artisanal producers after a survey revealed that the variability of the production conditions, related to the proximity of oil palm development actions, is leading to a variability in RPO quality, especially for FFA contents. All RPOs were rich in vitamin A and E, confirming their nutritional interest. Unselected local planting material, are producing a fluid RPOs that corresponds to a traditional quality standard. Socio-economical surveys were conducted with 124 housewives, 29 cooks and 18 retailers of RPO from Yaoundé. The results evidenced three categories of RPO quality for housewives. The RPO consumption habits are depending mainly on housewife native region and age, with purchasing criteria primarily based on the physical aspect of the oils. The supply chain comprises oil traders that mix artisanal and industrial RPOs, others selling segregated RPOs with local names while final traders currently home-fractionate artisanal RPOs. Omnipresent on the market of Yaoundé, the red oil is still an indispensable ingredient for the consumers of today. Advertising should be done in Africa and worldwide to highlight the nutritional qualities of RPO.