Hi Godschild, I am not sure if this will be any help to you or not. I first bought the homogenized palm at a local soap supplier(in northern CA) two years ago. Well, it's not too local when I have to drive for 40 minutes to go there... but it was worth trip to save the shipping cost.
When I brought it to home, I noticed it said "palm shortening," on the box and it had nothing else but the palm( ingredient list). Because palm is a vegetable oil, I believe it is considered a vegetable shortening. Basically, the homogenized palm is the same stuff as palm shortening!
That gave me an idea to look for palm shortening at a wholesale grocery store, like Smart and Final. I knew they sell lard, vegetable shortening,etc. Indeed, I found the palm shortening! It looked the exactly as same as one I bought it from a soap supplier! Beside, it only costed me $38.50 for a 50lb box! It was more than $20 cheaper than my local soap supplier and no shipping cost!
So...try to look for the palm shortening in your local grocery. Just make sure you read the ingredient - it is 100% palm oil. Good luck!