Sunflower growers will be delighted to see high oleic sunflower oil push them further into the premium-paying healthy food oil market, says Darcelle Graham, executive director of the National Sunflower Association of Canada.
However, canola growers aren’t too worried that the non-genetically modified sunflower oil will steal market share or tarnish the image of the dominant prairie oilseed, says Rick White, chief executive officer of the Canadian Canola Growers Association.
Both were reacting to news that Cargill is now marketing a high oleic sunflower oil as a non-GM alternative to high oleic canola and soybean oil.
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“Helping our customers succeed by providing them choices for ingredients is what drove the development of IngreVita HO Sun,” Kristine Sanschagrin, Cargill’s specialty oils manager, said in announcing the new product.
“Some of our customers choose to offer consumers non-GMO products, and this is one such option for those customers.”
High oleic vegetable oil is popular with food processors and restaurant chains because of its stability, which doesn’t exist at traditional levels of oleic acid.
Turning canola oil into a high oleic product allowed it to gain crucial market share for food providers who were suddenly able to offer both a healthy and stable oil in their products.
Soybeans have followed suit, and now sunflowers are too.
White said that shouldn’t hurt canola.
“Whether it’s sunflowers or soybeans, both are trying to emulate the healthy oil profile of canola,” he said.
“We take it as a compliment.… For consumers that’s good because the more consumers are aware of the healthy aspects of it.… I think the market is better off overall.”
Graham said sunflower growers will be happy to have a crop that can boost its already-healthy reputation among food providers.
“I think high oleic is definitely the way our industry is going to have to go to compete, especially with canola and soybeans,” said Graham.
Sunflowers’ non-GM status is a key advantage for the crop.
It has suffered at the hands of canola and other GM crops in recent years because the others have seen greater yields and profitability gains.
However, anti-GMO sentiment among some consumers means sunflowers could receive market compensation.
“It’ll always be a positive for the sunflower industry,” said Graham.
“Right now, we don’t expect that our sunflowers will ever be GMO. We’re a non-GMO crop and we’ll stay that way, so it definitely has its perks that way.”
Many canola growers are touchy about non-GM labelling because they feel that such claims imply that GM crops are in some way harmful or dangerous.
However, White said he isn’t too worried about that with this product.
“Marketing is marketing,” said White. “If consumers want that choice, it’s entirely up to them.”
He said it doesn’t matter whether it’s high oleic canola or non-GM sunflower oil, as long as consumers are being introduced to healthy oil.
ed.white@producer.com
