Golden Flower of Welsh farming hits the shelves
RAPESEED oil from Welsh farms is being turned into ready-made salad dressings which could soon be on a supermarket shelf near you.
Blodyn Aur already produces more than 35,000 bottles every year of its extra-virgin rapeseed oil, which is cold-pressed on the Conwy farm of Llyr Jones, using bee-friendly crops grown across north Wales.
Blodyn Aur’s products are already on sale at Sainsbury’s and Asda along with farm shops, delis and independent retail outlets around the UK.
Mr Jones, from Derwydd Farm in the village of Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, high in the hills near the Clocaenog Forest, founded Blodyn Aur – which means Golden Flower in Welsh – with farming colleagues Bryn Jones and Medwyn Roberts.
He said: “Our rapeseed oil is getting more and more popular, and we have already added a range of flavoured oils, including Welsh oaksmoked, chilli and garlic.
“However, we realised that there was a wider market of home cooks who would be interested in readymade dressings, which are quick and easy to use for salads or to flavour dishes such as cous cous and other grains.”
They enlisted the help of Colin Gray, former president of the Culinary Association of Wales, to help with the new range of dressings.
Mr Jones said: “Together with Colin, we tried out a variety of different dressings and got a great response from everybody who tasted them.
“We have settled on ones that Colin and our retail partners tell us that there is a demand for – and which we like the taste of.
“I personally like the beetroot and thyme one, while my colleague Geraint preferred the honey and mustard. Everybody voted the balsamic mix a winner.
“We are very proud that we are a company that’s firmly based in Wales. I grow around 35 acres of rape here on the farm, plus we have farms growing for us near Ruthin, Mold and Flint. Our vision is to have a bottle of Blodyn Aur on all kitchen worktops in Wales.”
The increased output of oil will also have a spin-off for the farming world, as the rapeseed husk residue from pressings is turned into highprotein pellets, known as rapemeal, which is fed to hill cattle and sheep.
“The first batch of dressings are made from the 2016 crop, as we are just about to start pressing the 2017 harvest. The taste can change, depending on the crop, the fields where it was grown, the soil and the variety of seeds.
“The skill comes from how it is pressed and the pressure, to ensure we have excellent, reliable quality all the way through.
“I am expecting the 2017 press to be good – there was heat in June and again in August to help ripen the seeds. It wasn’t a bumper year but the quality will be good.
“We harvest the seed in August and then dry it out before cleaning it and then putting it through our press, which is German-made. It is micro-filtered three times and that’s what gives the rich, nutty taste.
“Every tonne creates around 330 litres of oil and 660kg of seed husks that make excellent high-protein rapemeal for the farm. Initially I was looking to use the rapeseed as biofuel and then to make a low-cost highprotein food for our herd of 60 beef cattle, which are Aberdeen Angus crossed with Limousin.
“We also feed the pellets to our 1,500 Welsh Mule ewes as needed, and sell on to other farmers.
“However, we realised that the future was in the food market – it was so good that we decided to concentrate on that.
“Also, for the farmers who grow crops for us, it’s an excellent way of easily enriching their soil. Rapeseed is a brassica, part of the cabbage family, which replenishes the soil, so if they plant the field with a cereal crop the following year they will get a higher yield – and they can use the same machinery for harvesting.”