A day out at the Farm: 10 Years of Mellow Yellow x Young’s

Having grown up on the beautiful Bottom Farm, Duncan finished university and joined the family business as a fourth-generation farmer. But he realised that to sustain the farm for another four generations, they would have to change their tactics and look towards more innovative farming practices. Having studied the nutritional benefits of rapeseed oil at University, Duncan realised the solution – continuing to grow rapeseed oil as the generations before him had but pressing and bottling it into a range of sustainable, delicious and versatile cold-pressed oils and salad dressings that were as good for the planet as they were for cooking. And thus Mellow Yellow was born in 2005, the UK’s first seed to bottle cold-pressed rapeseed oil.

Director Food  Chris Knights sampled the brand 10 years later and we’ve been using it ever since, from golden roasties on Sundays, to fresh pan-fried catch of the day and comforting fish and chips.

Mellow Yellow isn’t just delicious, it also places the environment at the heart of everything it does. Duncan took Holly on a tour of the farm and factory, showing the innovative practices they have developed to ensure their Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil is both Carbon Neutral and Plastic Neutral (the world’s first food product to be certified as both). 

The team ensures that rapeseed plants are grown to LEAF Marque standards, whilst no waste product from pressing the rapeseed is thrown away, instead it is collected and used for animal feed across local farms. They also offset any remaining carbon emissions by supporting reforestation initiatives and green energy schemes and continue to push the boundaries of sustainable farming through trialling new techniques on their experimental field here at Bottom Farm.