Farmer clinches oil deal with Tesco

2:06pm Monday 25th August 2008

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GRATELEY farmer Chris Pratt's cold pressed rape seed oil is to become much more widely available thanks to a tie-up with supermarket giant Tesco.

The UK's lead retailer has agreed to stock the product in 23 of its stores in Hampshire and Surrey.

The 800-acre farm, which has been run by his family for 30 years, has been turned into a centre of production for the highly acclaimed product.

It is claimed to be even healthier than olive oil as it contains just six per cent saturated fat compared to the 14 per cent in olive oil or the 54 per cent in butter.

Chris's production aims to be the top quality product available as it is cold pressed and extra virgin whereas a number of other products use a more industrial style process to produce their oil using heat treatment and hydrogenated fats.

Pratt's Rapeseed Oil has won a Quality Food Award from the specialist Talking Retail website and Chris can trace his product to the exact field it was grown in.

The farm used to grow some rape, but it was only in 2007 that Chris realised the potential of the nutty-tasting oil and moved into increased production.

"It can be difficult for young farmers to find a place in the UK farming industry," he said.

"The health benefits of rapeseed oil, the reduction of food miles, combined with the high quality of the home grown British product combine to make rapeseed the new olive oil."

Rapeseed oil contains 10 times more Omega 3 than olive oil.

Omega 3 is recognised as having anti-inflammatory properties making it good for joints and is said to help reduce the risk of heart disease.

It also contains natural vitamin E, an antioxidant which is widely believed to protects cells against the effects of free radicals which can cause diseases such as cancer.