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Mellow Yellow has proudly sponsored the culinary students at Westminster Kingsway College since 2020 – supplying our cold pressed rapeseed oil to the kitchen, where it’s worked into an array of traditional and innovative dishes under the guidance of Jose Souto – Chef Lecturer at the college for 20 years.

Part of Capital City College Group, London’s largest college group, and one of the country’s leading colleges in hospitality and culinary arts, Westminster Kingsway is renowned for nurturing some of the most famous chefs of our generation including Jamie Oliver, Ainsley Harriott and Anthony Worral Thompson.

The food landscape has changed a lot since these chefs burst onto our screens, but through quality educators like Jose, the quest for quality ingredients has remained integral to the training of chefs, with sustainable British ingredients in high demand as we head towards 2025. Not only do these young chefs want to learn how to make marinades, mayonnaise and confit potatoes, they are more engaged than ever in ingredient provenance and the importance of sustainability.

As a producer of carbon-neutral cold pressed rapeseed oil, it’s been encouraging to see a fresh wave of chefs wanting to connect with ingredients with genuine interest and curiosity. Chefs are looking for so much more from a culinary oil than quality and high smoke point. They want to understand the making of ingredients, the history of how – and where – they’re grown, and why preserving traditional production methods is important. Because ultimately these are the things that shine through the food they produce in the kitchen. They are part of the food story, part of their journey as a chef and part of the narrative the customer wishes to see when they sit down to eat.

Mellow Yellow ticks the quality, versatility and cost boxes for chefs. But it also carries that story of provenance, family history and British ingredients, as well as being the only sustainable, carbon-neutral choice for professional kitchens. Totally un-processed, it is a premium alternative to frequently used pomace oil, and a more cost-effective option than imported Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

From the many farm tours we’ve carried out at Bottom Farm this year, it’s clear that we all share the same common goal: to celebrate age old techniques and quality ingredients nurtured by British soil, whilst ensuring sustainability remains front and centre in our food systems.

We supply our Mellow Yellow oil to pubs, restaurants, hotels, business & industry, education & healthcare, travel & leisure. Find out more about Mellow Yellow for Food Service.

Every great kitchen needs a great culinary oil and we’re delighted to provide our cold-pressed rapeseed oil to some of the most progressive and creative chefs in the UK.

From bistros and pubs to corporate kitchens and fine dining – Mellow Yellow is the counter oil of choice for many commercial kitchens looking for a quality oil that won’t leave a huge dent in that bottom line. And we’re delighted to have some of the best in the business flying the flag for our sustainable oil, including Michelin-starred chef, Adam Gray who was one of the first to switch to Mellow Yellow when we started producing in 2005.

Whilst our focus is national, there’s something rather wonderful about supporting local businesses and we are proud to supply some award-winning restaurants close to our farm in Hargrave, including James Peck’s Ember and the Tollemache Arms in Harrington – winner of the much sought after ‘Great British Pub of the Year‘ Award. But whether it’s local or further afield, our mission will always be to provide the best oil for the job. And with a growing demand from the food service sector, it’s clear that chefs are realising that one of the best quality oils of all might just be right here on this little island of ours!

Not only does cold-pressed rapeseed oil provide a huge saving to businesses in comparison to olive oil, it’s also incredibly tasty and much healthier than typical pomace oils and refined olive oils. Cold pressed rapeseed oil is brimming with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E, whilst the subtle nutty flavour and high smoke point make it a dream to work with – bringing not just flavour, but an elevated texture to foods.

But chefs don’t just want quality and flavour, they want ingredients that tell stories, with authenticity, character and sustainability at the core. As a carbon-neutral brand, we are proud to be the sustainable choice here in the UK and have been hugely encouraged by this industry shift championing British produce – and honouring it – in more ways than ever.

Find out more about the value of our cold-pressed rapeseed oil for food service, our sustainability work and our Mellow Yellow values.

Industry praise from Adam and James:

“I have used Mellow Yellow cold pressed rapeseed oil since 2005 in all of my commercial kitchens and also in my kitchen at home. As a chef who is passionate about nutrition and sustainability, it ticks all the boxes for me and is exceptionally versatile and cost effective.”

– Adam Gray

“I love using Mellow Yellow, not only is it local, sustainable and far more cost effective than olive oil, but it is perfect when used around woodfire for its high smoke point, I have been using it for years and will continue to do so.”

– James Peck

Our team headed to the Weetabix Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards last week—an annual event that celebrates local food and drink suppliers, growers, and producers in Northampton. It was wonderful to be in a room with other like-minded folks, all striving for the same thing: to ensure the food we grow and create in the county is not just delicious and high in quality but also sustainable, ethical, and beneficial to everyone along the production line.

The Farming Environment Award is sponsored by Weetabix and recognises protocol growers who have supplied Weetabix within the last two years. It looks at growers who have taken meaningful steps to reduce the environmental impact of wheat growing, whilst taking measurable actions to reduce carbon footprint, promote biodiversity and practice regenerative agriculture.

We are so proud of our farm’s sustainable credentials and our ongoing work to promote biodiversity, so when Farrington’s Farm was announced as the winner of the GOLD award, we were naturally delighted! Of course, it’s always wonderful to win an award, but when it recognises the work, time, effort, and collaborative journey our team has been on to nurture our land and help it thrive, it is even more special.

Here are some of the reasons that led to our award win:-

– We are committed to regenerative agriculture and environmental preservation. And we are always looking at ways in which we can nurture our soil to ensure all of our crops, from wheat to make Britain’s favourite breakfast cereal, to rapeseed which we press on site to make Mellow Yellow cold pressed rapeseed oil is the absolute best it can be.

– We are a LEAF Marque accredited producer and a LEAF demonstration farm. This means we have been independently verified under LEAF’s robust sustainability credentials.

– We stopped ploughing in 1998 and practice minimum and zero tillage to establish crops. Allowing worms and other little soil beasties to create a healthy soil full of life to help us grow our crops.

– To date, around 6,000 trees and over 8km of hedges have been planted, along with extensive wildlife habits created, improved, and maintained around the farm.

– Our farm was certified Carbon Neutral in 2020.

– A network of over 8km of well-maintained public rights of way invites people to enjoy the countryside.

Find out more about our approach to sustainability and our credentials.

Success at Great Taste Awards 2022!

 

We are incredibly proud of our range of sustainable products! In total we have won FOUR stars across 3 products at the 2022 Great Taste Awards for our Farrington’s Mellow Yellow products this year. The judges have awarded an incredible 2 stars Great Taste award to our versatile Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil! For most products, this is their second, or even third Great Taste award but for our Smoked Oil, this is the first time it has been awarded a Great Taste star and we couldn’t be happier!

 

The Great Taste awards are the world’s largest and most trusted food and drink awards, with a panel of over 500 experts judging each product, being described as the ‘Oscars of the food world’. This year, 12,366 food and drink products entered into these prestigious awards, with only the very best products being awarded the coveted stars.

 

Here’s what the judges had to say about our products:

 

Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil – 2 stars: Liquid Gold! A pleasingly golden oil, lightly aromatic, clean and fresh, nutty with light brassica notes. The texture was rich and smooth. The flavour although subtle, was wonderfully nutty and buttery. Very well done.

 

Honey & Mustard Dressing – 1 star: Glistening dressing with mustard seeds evident and glorious wafts of rapeseed oil. We loved the nutty rich flavour from the oil and thought the sweetness of the honey balanced so well with the bright acidity. Tastes fresh and home made.

 

Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil – 1 star:  Delicious oil well crafted and produced. This beautiful clear, golden oil almost glistens in the glass. There is a smoky, herbaceous aroma. On tasting it is clean and creamy so it fills the mouth and the gentle smokiness comes through very well and lingers on the finish.

 

We’re so proud of all our brilliant products, so if you haven’t tried them all, head over to our Where to Buy page and find your local stockist!

We’ve all been affected by the pandemic in some way. At Farrington Oils, most of our office is now working from home, which has allowed our production team and core office staff to remain on the farm producing food for you, safely.

We know how difficult it has been to be isolated from our friends and families. We have found, however, that food and cooking has bought us together, from afar. We’ve loved trying new recipes and sharing hints and tips with our followers, but we wanted to do more. So we set up a giveaway of 20 Mellow Yellow gift sets. We asked our followers on social media to nominate a friend, family member or neighbour that they missed sharing a meal with to receive one of these gift sets.

We were overwhelmed by the incredible nominations we received. Hundreds of heartfelt messages about key workers, missed family members and friends and those going out of their way to support others. We randomly selected 20 winners and sent a Mellow Yellow gift set to their nominee. After reading all the amazing nominations, we wanted to share some all the amazing winner’s stories.

Here are our winning isolation nominations…

 

isolation nominations karl

 

We hope everyone is continuing to stay safe and we look forward to being able to share meals with our loved ones again soon!

We are often asked at Farrington’s what is meant by the term ‘cold pressed’ in Farrington’s Mellow Yellow cold pressed rapeseed oil? A good question that does need some explaining.

 

Extracting oil from seeds and fruits such as rapeseed and olives is one of the world’s oldest forms of food processing. This along with grinding seeds into flour from wheat or making alcohol from barley for beer, or grapes for wine. The traditional method to extract oil is by mechanical ‘cold pressing’. If you have enjoyed a Mediterranean holiday, you may have seen an old big wooden olive oil press in the middle of a village square. Fresh olives would be poured into the press, a donkey would walk in a continual circle and the press would squeeze the fruit until the oil came trickling out.

In Britain we don’t grow olive trees, but we do grow rapeseed and have done since the Romans first brought it here over 2000 years ago. No doubt they would have used something similar to the donkey driven press to extract oil from the seed. However, for the last hundred plus years, oil has been extracted from seeds in Britain mainly by the industrialised method known as the ‘pre-press solvent extraction process’. This was developed as a highly efficient system of extracting oil, using high temperatures around 85°C, with the addition of a solvent (think of nail varnish remover or paint thinners), following which the oil is degummed, neutralised, dried, bleached and deodorised. Although this is a complicated process, it is a highly efficient way to extract large volumes of refined oil cheaply, with the resulting bland, colourless oil being ideal for many food manufacturing processes, as it does not flavour or colour the foods being made.

Many oils are produced in this way the world over, including olive oil, sunflower oil, groundnut oil, corn oil, rice bran oil, as well as rapeseed oil. 

It wasn’t until the advent of package holidays in the 1970’s, that we started to become aware of more exotic types of culinary oil and other exotic foods. This resulted in British food starting to get a bit more colourful and a little less bland. By the time I launched Farrington’s Mellow Yellow in 2005 as Britain’s first ‘seed-to-bottle’ cold pressed rapeseed oil, people were happy to give cold pressed rapeseed oil a go.

 

cold pressed close up

 

Going back to the original question of what does ‘cold pressed’ mean and why is it better…

Firstly, cold pressed is just that, we simply squeeze the seeds mechanically to extract the pure oil, without any additional heat being used, then pass the oil through filters a bit like a large tea strainer to remove any sediment. This means that the process is slow and inefficient compared to the refined process, so less oil is extracted from the seed. As a comparison, our cold pressed rapeseed oil leaves around 12% oil in the seed, whereas the industrialised method will only leave around 1%. However, nothing is wasted. Once the seed has been pressed, the leftover seed husks are shaped into rape meal pellets and given to farm animals as nutritious feed.

Additionally, cold pressed oils retain their natural character as nature intended. The most obvious being a superior taste and appearance compared to a refined oil. Cold-pressed rapeseed oil has a mild taste with subtle nutty or seedy flavours. Farrington’s Mellow Yellow, for example, has flavours of raw groundnuts, hazelnuts or sunflower seeds, whilst this flavour is underpinned by buttery undertones. Some people can taste the buttery flavour and not the nutty one. Mellow Yellow is also clean and light on the tongue, with no bitter aftertaste. These subtle or mellow flavours make it ideal to be used as a salad dressing oil, allowing the ingredients it is mixed with to come through, giving a different character to a dressing made with an olive oil, for example. Whilst the same mellow flavour makes the oil ideal for all types of cooking from baking breads and cakes, to seafood recipes and, also for roasting and stir-frying vegetables. 

 

Rapeseed oil is naturally yellow in colour hence the name ‘Mellow Yellow.’ This is down to the presence of carotenoids. Carotenoids play important roles in the prevention of various types of cancers, heart disease and eye health. People are increasingly looking for benefits from natural sources of carotenoids found in several unprocessed foods. Cold pressed rapeseed oil mainly consists of a carotenoid group called luteins, important for healthy eye function. This is almost completely removed in refined oils.

Plant sterols are another health promoting micronutrient found in cold pressed rapeseed oil, shown to help lower cholesterol levels. Although the sterol levels in rapeseed oil are too low to make official health claims, it is an excellent source compared to other oils. Again, however many of these important micronutrients are lost in refined oils.

 

Whether it is the delicious taste, the wonderful colour, the knowledge that you are enjoying pure, unadulterated food with its naturally healthy properties, or just the fact that a cold pressed oil reminds you of holidaying in Greece, there are no end of reasons to use Mellow Yellow cold pressed rapeseed oil. There is a genuine difference in the provenance of cold pressed oils compared to their bland and less exciting refined versions. And, research shows that consuming cold-pressed unrefined rapeseed oil is an important part of a healthy diet and lifestyle.  

 

For more information on our Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed Rapeseed oil, click here and to find out where to buy our Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil you can use out Store Finder here.

Not just used by home cooks, our Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil has made it’s way into many professional kitchens. Dean Hoddle, Head Chef of Silverstone Race Circuit here in Northamptonshire, tells us all about how he uses our oil to create delicious dishes…

 

As the Head Chef of Silverstone Circuit my dedicated team of chefs and I have to deliver a multitude of culinary offers for various events around the circuit. Whether it be a sandwich working lunch for an intimate meeting; a buffet style menu for a large trade exhibition, a banquet style meal for a FSTE 100 company or race day hospitality for the UK’s most prestigious motorsport events. Each event presents its unique challenges but it is overcoming these particular challenges that my team and I especially relish.

One of the main challenges we face is creating a balanced menu that is applicable to so many diverse events; often with large numbers and an ever varied number of diets. This is never easy to undertake and with my passion for local produce I often find myself looking closer to home for the finest produce to use on the menu.

silverstone 3 silverstone 2

In Northamptonshire we are truly blessed with excellent local produce and food loving artisan producers. Getting to know them and just talking about their produce you can see the passion that goes into the products they produce. Once we get to know them and build a relationship with them, the sky is the limit. I often find myself talking to them discussing new product ideas, then, hey presto, we have an exclusive product concept which ends up being a bespoke product exclusive to Silverstone. You don’t get that often as a Head Chef anymore.

With Farrington Oils the fact they are in the rolling countryside of Northamptonshire is a real bonus. The soil is perfect rapeseed growing conditions and the fields around the county are often ablaze with a sea of yellow. Deep within the countryside down a single lane country road in a sleepy village you come across Farrington Oils. The sea of yellow around the farm, the grain stores, the production area and the development kitchen: you just can’t help yourself but be excited. It sounds idyllic and it certainly is but it’s not just about the look and feel of where you are. What they produce is also special. 

Let’s start with the oil. The unmistakable look of the golden colour and smooth taste makes this product a pure joy to work with. It’s so versatile we can apply it to any dish that you would use other oils in and simply get a far better result. The smooth undertone of flavour comes through to give you a distinct yet subtle flavour which enhances the produce.

From this base product Farrington Oils make a selection of dressings which are on all of our menus from Corporate Hospitality events to the biggest event on the Silverstone calendar: the British Grand Prix. The selection of flavours really complement our dishes and the design on the bottles with the brand “Mellow Yellow” which is recognised as quality, is simply placed on the service points to add to the luxury of our offering.

When you add all this together: the fantastic service which is very personal; the ability to create new ideas and the amazing base product you simply cannot lose. I’m looking forward to my next visit to Farrington Oils where my chefs and I will be playing in the development kitchen looking onto the yellow fields for inspiration.

 

Dean Hoddle, Head Chef, Silverstone

Follow Dean on Twitter & Instagram.

We’re so excited to share our eagerly awaited, wonderful new dressing with you! Introducing Mellow Yellow Chilli and Cumin Dressing …

Aromatic and lively, combining the heat of chilli with the gentle aroma of cumin. A deliciously daring dressing or marvellous marinade.

 

For our first new dressing in four years, we wanted to create something bold and full of flavour. The flavours of chilli and cumin fit the bill perfectly! The chilli flavour is subtle enough to add a pleasant heat to your cooking with a delicious aromatic base from the cumin seeds. Not just for salads, use this dressing as a marinade for salmon, BBQ’s prawns, roasted vegetables or even in a simple butter bean hummus! We absolutely love the combination of spice and fragrance, adding a fantastic flavour to even the simplest of salads.

 

Just like every product in the Mellow Yellow range, our Chilli and Cumin Dressing is made with the finest ingredients. With no additives or preservatives, it is also vegan and gluten free. Thanks to our Mellow Yellow cold pressed rapeseed oil, the dressing is rich in Omega 3 and low in saturated fat so you know you are using a good quality dressing that’s also good for your health.

 

How can I get a bottle?

 

Available now from farm shops, delis and food halls. Make sure to ask your local farm shop to stock Mellow Yellow Chilli and Cumin Dressing if they don’t already! Once you’ve picked up your bottle, we’d love to know your favourite recipe, so make sure to tag us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

 

Take a look at our other salad dressings too: Honey & Mustard, Classic Vinaigrette & Balsamic Dressing

In May this year, when our rapeseed fields were looking their best in full bloom, Nadiya Hussain and a filming crew from Hungry Gap Productions came to Bottom Farm to learn more about how we produce our cold pressed rapeseed oil. The reason for the visit was to film a segment for Nadiya’s new series, Nadiya’s Family Favourites! 

Starting in the fields, Duncan explained how he grows the rapeseed to LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) Marque standards and how the plant grows. He then showed Nadiya the cold pressing method we use and how we bottle our oil. 

As Nadiya is obviously a brilliant baker and chef (she won the Great British Bake Off in 2015) she was keen to learn more about cooking with Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil! So she headed off to The Mermaid in Ellington and head chef, Nick Marriot put her taste buds to the test with a roast potato challenge. After cooking roast potatoes in either cold pressed rapeseed oil, sunflower oil or olive oil, Nick challenged Nadiya to identify each oil. With it’s high smoke point giving super crispy roasties and subtle nutty flavour, she easily spotted the ones cooked in Mellow Yellow!

We absolutely loved having Nadiya visit us at Bottom Farm, it was a fantastic day and watching ourselves on TV is incredibly exciting! If you didn’t catch the episode live last week, you can catch up on BBC iPlayer now: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bc26qk/nadiyas-family-favourites-series-1-1-family-days-out 

Nadiya’s Family Favourites is on BBC2 every Monday at 8pm. 

About Me

I grew up on my family farm in Northamptonshire where we grow a range of crops such as oilseed rape, wheat, barley and beans. As well as these, we also have a heard of cattle and a small flock of sheep. Currently I am at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, where I study Agri-food Marketing and Business. I have just completed my first year there and whilst home for summer I wanted to find a job that would be good experience but also doing something I am passionate about. Having always been interested in the farm to fork process, or in this case the field to bottle process, where better to apply than Farrington Oils.

 

What have I been doing?

On my first couple of days I was thrown in at the deep end as I was working on the stand at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham, where I promoted and sold the Farrington’s Mellow Yellow range to the public. We were roasting potatoes in our cold pressed rapeseed oil in an oven on the stand for people to sample. This was to demonstrate how crispy the oil makes the potatoes thanks to its high smoke point. With over 220,000 people attending the show it meant our stand always had people around it, either tasting, asking questions, and the majority of the time, purchasing. Although they were 2 long days, leaving Bottom Farm at 6am and returning back at 9pm, it was a really enjoyable experience.

good food show picture 1

Another hands on task I was given was conducting a tasting at Morrisons in St Ives; here I had my own stand, positioned at the end of the salad aisle. The shoppers were able to taste any of the Farrington’s Mellow Yellow range by dipping freshly baked bread in the oils and dressings, and breadsticks in the mayonnaises. After tasting the products, many customers choose to purchase them, with some even buying 3 or 4 dressings at a time! Lots of people were interested in hearing about the locality of the oil and its health benefits.

morrisons tasting photo 1

In the office I started off by organising the store locator from the website, making sure they were all set out correctly, and all the information was up to date. I have also been working with food bloggers to encourage them to try our Farrington’s Mellow Yellow dressings. I had to make up and package the dressings, before sending them off to the bloggers who are going to review the products on their social media pages.

Another project that I was set was to research different packaging and postage options for the oils and dressings. This was an interesting task to do as I had to contact different companies to get more detailed information and quotes for products that I was looking at. I also had to work out the costing of different ideas and decide weather or not it would be viable and if so how would the business benefit from it. Whilst carrying out these tasks I have also been monitoring the Farrington’s Mellow Yellow social media pages, this includes liking, commenting, replying to or retweeting our followers. I also posted some pictures on Instagram of different meals that can be made using our rapeseed oil, adding in a link to our website so our followers could find the recipe. I have been trying to keep everything up to date by changing letter templates from the old logo to the new one and updating customer’s information. I have also helped to do a stock take and upload it onto the system, this is to check that there is the correct amount of the correct batch, and if there isn’t, then I had to work out why not and where the bottles may have gone.

Finally, I have also been working with the production team. In here I have been folding lots of different sized trays for the bottles to be packed into. I have also been folding swing tags for the rapeseed oil bottles, which advertise our range of dressings. Another task that I enjoyed was helping to pick and pack different orders to go out to customers, this is because of the importance of ensuring the correct type and amount of stock are going to the correct person.

Overall I have really enjoyed my time working at Farrington Oils; I have learnt so much that I will be able to take with me, not only back to university but also in future jobs. I have been involved in the whole process from watching the dressings being made along the whole production line to marketing and selling the finished bottles at shows. It has been great experience that has helped me to decide what path I would like to take in my future career.

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