Cold-Pressed Sunflower Oil: A Hot New Product

Vergezocht Plant Oils is the first factory in Africa to produce cold-pressed, high-oleic sunflower oil. Sabrina Dean visited the plant in Bloemfontein in the Free State to find out more about Vergezocht’s business plan, which is built around using a niche sunflower cultivar to produce a high-demand product in a world moving towards healthier lifestyles.

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It has been a decade since Bloemfontein farmer Pierre Hugo first began experimenting with a special type of sunflower cultivar, which led to his founding the agro-processing business Vergezocht Plant Oils (VPO).

According to the factory manager at VPO, Franz Homsek, Hugo had heard about a high-oleic (HO) sunflower cultivar that was different to traditional cultivars due to the dietary fat composition of the oil that could be pressed from its seed.

“The HO cultivar is considered rich in high-oleic acid oils [omega-9 oils] and contains far lower levels of saturated fats and omega-6 polyunsaturates than traditional sunflower seed.”

Hugo planted the first trials on his farm, Vergezocht, in 2005, and immediately began experimenting with pressing the seeds.

A SPECIAL CULTIVAR

Today, VPO makes its oil from seeds produced by the HO sunflower cultivar PAN 7158HO, distributed in South Africa by Pannar.

Homsek says the older HO cultivars delivered lower yields than traditional sunflower, which meant that farmers were paid a premium.

“New HO cultivars that should produce the same type of yield as conventional sunflower are now being investigated.”

VPO contracts growers to farm its seed in accordance with specific production practices. “We have a strict policy against the use of pesticides and herbicides. Although we’re not certified as organic, we try to produce the product as naturally as possible, and expect our growers to adhere to certain standards.”

The number of hectares cultivated varies, depending on carryover stocks, order levels and climatic conditions.