Sales of Wicklow Rapeseed Oil rose by 50% last year
WICKLOW Rapeseed Oil recorded a 50 per cent increase in sales during 2018.
The company is located in Hawkstown Lower and was established in 2013 by Keith Symes. His aim was to combine his farming background and love of the land with his studies.
From 2010, Keith made cooking oil with the family rapeseed using a miniature press in his kitchen and this led to numerous requests from extended family and friends for some of the oil. From this humble beginning, Keith carried out extensive research on how to match the finest seed with the perfect farming conditions, in the right soil and the purest pressing conditions.
With people increasingly opting for healthier lifestyles, supermarket sales of health-focused products – including Wicklow Rapeseed Oil – have been on the rise for the past number of years.
‘We are delighted that the market is recognising Wicklow Rapeseed Oil as the healthy and most flavoursome cooking oil option,’ said Mr Symes. ‘It is my mission to ensure that our premium oil, maximising natural goodness, become a stable product in all Irish homes. I have been brought up with a sense of pride in Irish produce. After all there is nothing like harvesting golden fields knowing that this product will make a difference to Irish people’s health and food enjoyment’.
The brand has had a facelift for 2019 to celebrate its move into over 100 stores nationwide.
Wicklow Rapeseed Oil is grown by adhering to a strict set of farming practises. The seed is gently cold pressed on the Symes family farm and filtered which ensures that the oil retains all the goodness of the natural product with nothing added or taken away.
Support from the Local Enterprise Office, Food Academy, the Musgrave market place programme and Bord Bia, has helped Wicklow Rapeseed Oil to grow from a kitchen industry into a product now available nationwide.