Canola farmer nurtures niche product

By Ed White
Western Producer, Winnipeg bureau, April 27, 2006

Tony Marshall's farm-based company is doing exactly what a lot of experts say canola growers need to do. It is producing a unique, high value product that doesn't seem like boring old canola.

The Calgary-area farmer said he has made his extra-virgin canola oil a lucrative specialty product that has taken him far down the supply chain. "It's certainly been well received by the market," said Marshall, who has produced the Highwood Crossing Farm's organic canola oil for 12 years. "We've removed this farm from the commodity realm and created a branded product where we can set our own prices and avoid the ups and downs of the market."

Marshall's farm produces and markets cold pressed canola and flax oil and makes organic granola, flax muffin and pancake mix and stone ground flours out of organic crops. The farm is a certified organic operation, but no longer grows the canola for its bottled oil because too many neighbours grow genetically modified canola varieties. Instead, growers in Alberta's far north, "where there are a lot of rocks and brush between farms," produce the organic canola for him.

Obtaining, crushing and marketing this specialty canola oil isn't easy, but Marshall said he's found a market niche that will pay him the extra he needs to cover all costs of production. His best customers are chefs of high-end restaurants who use the oil in their recipes and proclaim their commitment to locally produced ingredients. They're willing to pay more for something they think their customers want.

"It's not only a specific price point, but also a specific philosophy that I look for when I market the oil to chefs and restaurants," said Marshall. "Just because it's a high-end restaurant doesn't mean they'll use it." Marshall produces his canola oil the same way that specialty olive oil producers make theirs. He doesn't filter or refine the oil, so it is colourful, thick and flavourful, unlike processed canola oil that is close to clear. Marshall said unrefined canola oil tastes slightly of mustard and "we get lots of comments from chefs that it is similar to olive oil from the Tuscany region of Italy." It is also more yellow-tinged than regular canola oil.

Marshall is able to charge as much as extra- virgin olive oil, but only some customers are willing to pay that much. "Lots of chefs say, 'why don't I just use an extra virgin olive oil,' " said Marshall. But chefs who are committed to using local food sources and who promote regional cuisine think a locally produced, flavourful and organic canola oil is better than an imported olive oil, Marshall said. That is who he concentrates on. Safeway and some independent grocery stores carry the Highwood Crossing canola oils, as do some health food stores.

The oil is sold in coloured glass olive oil bottles imported from Italy, rather than the big plastic jugs that most canola oil is sold in. Marshall said that is important for the product's image. "The dark glass bottle reflects the quality of what we're trying to do."

Adding an oilseed crusher and other food processing machinery to his farm hasn't been cheap or easy, he said, but it has allowed him to survive the swings of the farm economy. "We're adding value to the crops that we grow. That's the secret for us for making our little operation in this part of the world work.

"If we were just another organic farm growing a product and selling it to someone else to process, then it would be just another commodity." But Marshall hopes every farmer doesn't start producing a specialty canola oil, because right now only certain chefs and certain stores are interested in the niche product. "The chef community is relatively limited," said Marshall. "I don't think the market is big enough for everybody to just hop on."

This article was first published in the Western Producer, and the OACC gratefuly acknowledges permission to post it here.