Chefs would have to travel to Italy to find oil as fresh as the oil pressed from canola seed in southern Alberta.
It’s seed on Monday, pressed on Tuesday, bottled on Wednesday and in stores or restaurants by Friday, said Tony Marshall of Highwood Crossing Farms, who produces the high-quality oil from his farm south of Calgary.
“It’s a fresh product. It’s not an oil you’re going to find in a deep fat fryer,” said Marshall.
For 12 years, Marshall and his wife Penny have turned canola from certified organic canola into cold pressed oil for high-end restaurants and specialty stores. It was one of the first products they made as a way to add value to the 107-year-old family farm when it became organic 15 years ago.
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The canola is pressed into oil in small batches at low temperature and with the exclusion of light and oxygen.
“It’s a slow, meticulous process,” said Marshall.
The press produces three to four litres an hour. Marshall compares his oil process to a microbrewery, which makes high quality rather than high volume beer.
“We press as much in one year as some companies press in a day.”
When Marshall gets an e-mail from an overseas customer who wants a massive shipping container of his oil, he politely declines.
“I’m not interested in shipping it out in barrels,” said Marshall. He wants to focus his business on supplying
local customers who want to buy from local farmers.
Marshall sells 20 litre pails of oil if necessary but most of the product is sold in 500 millilitre glass bottles.
“If I start selling it by the container, then it’s just another commodity. If I put it in 500 ml bottles and sell it by the case, then I can get a price that is fair for the product.”
The price for Highwood Crossing cold-pressed oil is about 10 times the cost of bulk canola oil available in wholesale food shops. By developing and building niche markets and working with chefs, Marshall has been able to survive the ups and downs of the farm economy.
“There are many opportunities out there. We have to identify what our skills are and what resources we have on our farms and listen to the markets.”
By listening to his customers, Marshall has expanded beyond oil. He sells the crops off the half section farm, supplies produce from a chef’s garden where he grows specialty heirloom vegetables, processes other grain and oil products and sells it all through wholesale, direct to consumer and to the food service industry.
“We’ve made a nice little package with lots of different income streams,” he said.
“We’re adding value to the crops we grow here.”
