After doubling its production capacity and scooping a prestigious industry award, a growing food firm is urging more people to choose cooking oil made from East Anglian rapeseed, rather than exotic imported alternatives.

With so many farming sectors in the financial doldrums, adding value to crops can offer a route to business growth.

And for one firm, success has been built on an investment in oil – not the black gold of North Sea oilfields, but the golden liquid pressed from East Anglian rapeseeds.

Hillfarm Oils, at Heveningham, near Halesworth, was the first UK farm to manufacture premium cooking oil from its own oilseed rape, the crop which turns the region's fields a vibrant yellow every summer.

Since that leap of faith in 2004, the company has flourished and this year an investment in new presses has doubled production capacity, while marketing and awareness campaigns about the benefits of cold-pressed rapeseed oil have helped demand to grow.

And to cap it all, last month it became one of a select few firms across the UK to win a three-star Great Taste award from the Guild of Fine Food for its farmhouse mayonnaise – an honour only given to 130 out of 10,000 entries.

Director Sam Fairs said growing oilseed rape in north Suffolk had been part of his family's way of life for 35 years, and the initial move into secondary production was inspired by a gap in the market.

'I didn't decide to make cold-pressed rapeseed oil because I couldn't get enough money for my rapeseed,' he said. 'My thought process was: 'Why am I being asked to buy extra virgin olive oil when rapeseed oil is better for you? I wanted to know why we were not cold-pressing it in this country. That is where it all started.'

Mr Fairs is a partner in the Hillfairs contract farming operation, working across 3,600 acres for various landowners, which is run as a separate business entity to Hillfarm Oils, and supplies it with rapeseed at market rates.

He said he has planted 1,000 acres of oilseed rape this year which he expects will yield about 1,700 tonnes of rapeseed.

It will be harvested and stored at the solar-powered production barn, where seeds are sieved and cleaned to remove any weeds, chaff and unwanted seeds, then pressed to extract the oil which is filtered, bottled and labelled on site. There is a yield of about 360 litres of oil per tonne of seed, and the crushed seed husks are sold off as animal feed.

Hillfarm's rapeseed oil bottles highlight figures comparing its 6pc saturated fat content against 10pc for sunflower oil, 14pc for olive oil and 51pc for butter. It has a 'mild nutty flavour' and a high smoke point of 220 degrees.

These are all factors discussed with customers at trade shows as Hillfarm battles to compete with imported oils.

Mr Fairs said: 'If you cook with olive oil and you get covered in smoke, that is the oil breaking down. It has just burned off and gone. Our rapeseed oil will be fine for stir-frying or Yorkshire puddings, but olive oils should be nowhere near it.

'We have been pressing for 11 years, but if you watch any food programme, even 11 years later, the chef will still grab a bottle and automatically say: 'Add a bit of olive oil'. It is frustrating, but that is why we go to so many shows.'

Hillfarm's products are sold through Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's and East of England Co-op, as well as lots of farm shops and delicatessens across East Anglia.

As well as its farmhouse and garlic mayonnaises, the company also makes hand wash and liquid soap, proving the diversity of rapeseed oil – but also creating a valuable local supply chain. The rape is grown at Heveningham, the product and bottle are made in Halesworth, while the pump comes from Wymondham and the labels come from Dereham.

Mr Fairs said he felt equally passionately about the benefits to local economies which could come from more British foods such as rapeseed oil being made, stocked, sold and consumed in this country.

He said: 'We are taking all this money out of the country, so why are supermarkets bringing in all this olive oil and sticking all this money into Europe, and then wondering why people are not going to their shops? It is because all the money has gone to farmers in the Mediterranean and Portugal. 'But with us, that money would be supporting farmers who are working in the UK, and the other people working here who all go and spend their money in local shops. Importing foreign foods and being very Mediterranean about it does not help us as an economy.'

Hillfarm Oils' growth curve

In response to growing demand – and in order to sustain its current growth rate – Hillfarm Oils has doubled the number of presses in its solar-powered barn from eight to 16.

That has raised the capacity from pressing 30 litres of oil per hour to 63 litres per hour, or 1,524 litres per day.

This means the company could produce as much as 550,000 litres per year – the equivalent of 1.1 million 500ml bottles of oil.

To improve the process further, a new 400-tonne storage bin has also been installed next to the press barn.

In terms of turnover, Hillfarm Oils has grown by 24.4pc from 2013 to 2014, 22.6pc from 2014 to 2015, and is on target to achieve another 22pc by 2016.

Business manager Lawrence Frohn said: 'This growth at retail level is coming from a number of areas but is predominantly new customers buying our oil. We are also seeing existing customers buying more.

'Within the catering sector we are also seeing growth with new chefs trying our oil and then continuing to use it. With the increasing price of extra virgin olive oil this may be a driver for them to switch to cold pressed rapeseed oil.'

Taking a stand for bees

Concerns over bee health have prompted Hillfarm to take a stand on the use of controversial pesticides which have been linked to pollinator declines.

Neonicotinoid seed treatments were commonly used to protect oilseed rape crops from damage by cabbage stem flea beetles until they were banned by the EU two years ago.

In July, an emergency temporary approval was granted for England's four most at-risk counties – but although Suffolk was one of them, Hillfarm director Sam Fairs said he still refuses to use the chemicals, preferring cultural methods of controlling pests in his crops.

'We are not prepared to use neonicotinoid seed treatments because of the unknowns,' he said. 'We are the first to stand up and say we are not organic. We produce rapeseed as farmers, but we are not prepared to use neonicotinoids because there is a risk they could be damaging the bees, and until someone proves it one way or another, we won't use it.

'When we took this year's rape to the barn, it was full of flea beetle. So we know the amount of flea beetle in the area is immense, and we know there is a risk.

'Our thought process is to grow our rape earlier so it has got a warmer soil temperature and a warmer climate. We use a lot of poultry manure in front, so it gives the seed a really good kick start. We have also made sure that we have produced loose, but firm, seed beds, because we know the flea beetle like to hide under clods, so if they are not there they do not like it.

'These are the cultural things we have tried to achieve. In years gone by the really bad cases of flea beetle damage were more likely at the beginning of September. But if your rape has got two true leaves by now, it will grow away from it. We started to drill on August 12 and finished by the 26th, and what I drilled on August 12 is now risk-free, as we have managed to get it away from the flea beetle.'

The company's bee-friendly approach was reflected on one of the company's themed bottle tops, which featured a design incorporating bee cartoons.

Business manager Lawrence Frohn said: 'We are closer to the customers and we know from what people are saying to us that bees are an emotive subject. The reason we put a bee on our cap was to show that they are important to us, and that we are looking after them.'