Crush Rapeseed Oil

Extra virgin, cold pressed rapeseed oil

Norfolk-based rapeseed oil producer Crush Foods supplies extra virgin, cold pressed rapeseed oil exclusively to the East of England Co-op’s ever-growing Sourced Locally range.  

Crush Foods, an artisan food producer based in Swannington, comprises father and son Rodney and Brendan Playford and university friend Stephen Newham, as well as production manager Amy Bekooy, and Claire Gray, who works in the production team. Driven by their passion for local food they set out to craft a high quality, cold pressed rapeseed oil, painstakingly trying many varieties of rapeseed before finally selecting one for its consistent flavour and cooking characteristics.

A natural, local product

The end result is a subtle and versatile oil made from cold pressing this one favoured variety of rapeseed, which is grown in partnership with fellow Sourced Locally supplier Algy Garrod of Norfolk Popcorn. It has a light, nutty flavour, which lends itself to baking, stir-frying and roasting as well as being ideal for bread dipping, salad dressings and BBQ marinades.

The Crush family believe that this natural, local product easily rivals olive oil in terms of flavour and price, and even outstrips its Mediterranean competitor in the health stakes.

The delicious oil takes time and effort to produce, with more than 250,000 individual rapeseeds needed for just one bottle. Once harvested the tiny seeds are cleaned and gently pressed without heat and left to settle. It’s then triple-filtered and bottled by hand before being directly supplied to stores.

Stephen Newham said:

“We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support we receive from the Sourced Locally team at the Co-op, which has helped us to grow year on year. We are therefore delighted to support them in raising awareness of businesses such as our own, which supply tasty, local, affordable produce day in day out.”

“Rapeseed oil has seen a steady rise in popularity over the last few years,” said Amy.  “It contains ten times more Omega 3 than olive oil, half the saturated fat, is a great source of vitamin E and is gluten free. And because of its high burn point, it’s even more versatile to cook with.”  

To find out more about Crush Foods, visit: www.crush-foods.com 

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