‘I just used the oil to run my car, I did not expect it to become profitable’
Eugene Larkin runs an oil-pressing business in Co Offaly that is entirely family-run – here, he talks about how they have adapted to changing profits
This month, Eugene Larkin’s family farm in Birr, Co Offaly, will be covered in a sea of yellow — the rapeseed flowers grow in full bloom as spring arrives, with bees and butterflies buzzing in and out of it.
“I took over from my father back in 1980. It was a mixed farm at the time with sheep, cattle and dairy, with a few crops here and there. It was 78 acres when I inherited it, over the years, I bought more land, and now we farm 150 odd acres of land,” says Eugene (64).
In 2002, Eugene started planting cereals in his fields like malting wheat and some spring wheat. He started planting rapeseed around the same time as it was less intensive than the other plants on the land.
“After I started growing the rapeseed, I just grew fascinated about how to extract oil from it. In 2005 or so, there was this movement towards biodiesel. I had my own machinery, so we started to squeeze the oil out of the seeds on a very small scale and used it to run our car,” he explains.
“So I learnt all the basics of oil extraction and used it just to run our domestic car for two to three years. When we got used to squeezing the oil out of the seed, it was never saving much more than the price of the diesel oil itself which was at the time €20 or €30 a tonne.”
Family business
“We had all sorts of ideas at the time but we were just using the oil for our domestic car at that point. I just wanted the oil to run my car, I did not expect to it to become a whole profitable business. In reality, there’s a lot of finance required to actually make it a commercial, financial operation. With the effort involved, we needed to add more value to it.”
In 2006, they slowly started to set up the business — Glenfield Rapeseed Oil. They supplied oil to the equine industry. Farms would buy the oil, which is known to help the skeletal systems of horses and gives them a shiny coat.
“When we saw how other producers were selling the oil for retail, we knew we could do it. We could be even more competitive, if not better because there was no outside label and no distribution costs because it’s an entirely family-run business. We thought it would be viable and that’s why we went from our car to selling the product in shops,” says Eugene.
The crops are sown at the end of August each year, mature over the winter and flower closer to spring. They grow steadily with the help of some chemical fertilisers and slowly die away over the span of two or three months, when they are ready to be harvested.
“Hopefully we get good weather, which can always be a big problem in this country. We bring the yield back to our farm where we have a grain dryer to dry the crop down to 8pc moisture. Once it’s down to that stage, it’s a stable commodity. We leave it in the storage tanks until we need it,” he explains.
After their success in the equine industry, Eugene worked with his son Barry — an agronomist by profession, who grows the crops – his daughter Eugenie
— a primary school teacher who helps work the plant and production — and his third son Patrick, who helps with quality control to slowly expand into retail.
He says, “We are now selling rapeseed oil to retail trade, it’s a true family run business. At the start, we were selling only to local shops like the butcher shops, fruit and veg shops and anywhere they might take it on. From there, it was a battle to try and identify who could and would take it on.
“Those successes came around when we had our ear to the ground trying to figure out what steps to take next. Ten years ago, we got accredited by Musgraves Food Academy, which gave us the license to expand into SuperValus in other parts of the country.
“After all the costs, we make around 35pc in profits. It always depends. There is a great deal of regulation involved for anyone who produces food or oil for human consumption. You’re always subject to inspections from the HSE and county councils — that alone can make it difficult.
“Then when you go to the supermarket, they want to see the best before dates and the constituents of the product and they want you to bring it to them for very little reward. So it’s a tough job.”
Cold pressing
A tonne of rapeseed generally has an oil content of 45pc. At the Glenfield extraction system, they cold press the oil — they only press it once without any heat or chemicals and take only about 35pc out of the seed. They produce 350L of extra virgin rapeseed oil from one tonne of the seed which is distributed in half litre bottles.
“After it’s sieved and extracted, it can last in the settlement tanks for around two months. The bottling is the hard part — my son, daughter and myself spend hours putting on the labels and once they are all done and neatly packed into boxes, we distribute it to the supermarkets, butchers and fruit and veg shops nationwide,” says Eugene.
“All the labour that goes into this business is us, it’s all within the family. Labour is all us, within the family. As small, local producers, getting accredited has been good advertising — people like to buy from local Irish producers.
“But you still have to compete on price. Price is everything — you have to have the price point exactly right. It’s not been easy but at the same time, it’s been very good. Profit-wise, the margin is very tight now because all our inputs are shockingly priced — the bottles, the labels, the caps for the bottles.
“While we grow all our own crop and provide all our own feed, there’s still a cost. The cost of growing crops now is phenomenal compared to 15 years ago. The price of fertiliser, seed, fuel and machinery have all gone through the roof.
“And all of this combined with supermarkets selling their own brands at greatly reduced prices, the margin is quite tight now. Originally, while the volume wasn’t huge, the margin was quite good and profits were better. We’re not complaining, we’re trying to be the best to be the best producers, put out the best product and be competitive on price.
“We know it has to be those three things by itself can overcome most challenges and sell the product itself.”
Apart from cereals, the main enterprise on Eugene’s farm is beef cattle. Their mixed farm has now been reduced to the two because of time constraints, with dry stock being much easier to manage in addition to the oil business.
“The profits may vary but we’re never disillusioned about the business. We’re farming all our lives, it’s what we know and it’s all we know. We’re very happy with how well it’s gone so far. And we’re very fortunate to still be able to do it together as a family,” he says.
You have to have the price point exactly right. It’s not easy but it has been good