A Darlington family which has farmed the same land for almost a century is set to appear on BBC One’s Farmers' Country Showdown.
Olly and Francesca Lawson, both 35, will showcase their cold-pressed, extra virgin rapeseed oil, Lovesome Oil, which is produced and bottled entirely on their Brafferton Lovesome Hill Farm.
The show, produced by Sidney Street TV, is part of a series taking place across the UK, highlighting the best of what farmers do.
The episode featuring the Lawsons and aired on BBC1 at 2.15pm on Monday, January 16, was filmed over two days at the family’s farm and at Barnard Castle Farmers Market.
Olly Lawson said: “Rapeseed oil is much lighter and healthier than olive oil with half the levels of saturated fats, in addition to double the amount of omega 3 and vitamin E.
"Rapeseed also has a high smoke point which is why it’s much more effective when cooked even at high temperatures.
“We’ve found it’s favoured a lot by chefs, who love that it’s a healthier alternative, and who also recognise that it’s much better for the environment due to it not having had to be shipped in. They love its provenance, including the fact it’s produced by a local family business entirely on our farm.”
Lovesome Hill Farm’s rapeseed oil story started 40 years ago in the early 80s when Olly’s father David started planting the crop.
Four decades later and the family including Olly and Francesca supported by David, Olly’s mother Heather and his brother Toby decided to launch Lovesome Oil to market in 2018.
Sadly, David passed away in 2020, but in memory, the family named their first rapeseed oil pressing facility after him, David’s Press, which enabled them to produce their product at the farm.
The family had their press and bottling facility built and installed with the support of a European RDPE grant. David had cleared the area prior to the press arriving.
The pressing, filtering, bottling, capping and labelling equipment is housed in two 20ft shipping containers.
Seed from oilseed rape grown on the farm is turned into bottles and catering cans of oil without leaving the site, using specialist equipment imported from Germany and Italy.
The family business is filtering down to the next generation as well with Zara, 4, already showing an early interest in helping out.
Time will tell, if one-year-old Zack will also join the family concern and get mucking in.
Olly said: “We thoroughly enjoyed filming the episode. It was a busy couple of days but really enjoyable. It was so good to involve the whole family, including the kids and we can’t wait to watch it!”
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