Hot off the press
|
Speciality oils are niche products, which are sold in small, often luxuriously packaged, quantities with a higher unit value than the major products in the bulk edible oils trade. But what 'switches us on' to use them? Is it their taste? The perceived health benefits? Or the cachet that accompanies a distinctive name, origin or label?
Invariably, they are extracted and processed with extra care, whether the ultimate usage is in foods, supplements or cosmetics. They will often contain at least one constituent that sets them apart, and impart a distinctive taste that is agreeable and desirable to large groups of consumers.
Among the gourmet oils are almond, apricot, avocado, hazelnut, macadamia, pecan and pistachio, which - like cold-pressed rapeseed oil - are rich in oleic acid (the monounsaturated fatty acid that is the major constituent of olive oil); then there are grapeseed, safflower and passion flower, which are rich in linoleic acid; and others - sesame, argan, walnut, wheatgerm and rice bran - which contain moderate to high levels of both oleic and linoleic acids.
Walnut and wheatgerm oils also contain the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid, while some types of safflower oil can contain significant levels of (omega-6) gamma-linolenic acid and rice bran oil contains the cholesterol-lowering ingredient oryzanol along with vitamin E and phytosterols.
With its high vitamin E content, argan oil is now finding use as a culinary oil and a cosmetic ingredient. Produced from the almond-like nuts of a thorn bush in Morocco, the oil is extracted from seeds that have been toasted to eliminate bitter flavours; it is among the most expensive of speciality oils to make, but its relatively low viscosity means that a little goes a long way as a salad dressing, for example, to impart a delicate, nutty flavour.
A by-product of the rice polishing industry, so potentially available in greater volumes from sources such as India, rice bran oil also combines a delicate flavour with low viscosity, but has been difficult to refine to remove unwanted constituents.
Two speciality oils with high contents of saturated fats that have recently appeared at retail level in Europe are red palm oil and (virgin) coconut oil. Red palm oil is a (higher oleic, lower saturated fat) palm oil fraction that has been specially refined to leave its vitamin E constituents and carotenes in the final product, adding both to its health profile and flavour.
Obtained from copra (dried coconut) that has been carefully produced with very low levels of free fatty acid, virgin coconut oil is gaining popularity as a nutritive, tasty and healthy oil, for culinary use as well as for applications as a premium ingredient for the so-called nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals sectors. As with conventional coconut oil, its saturated fat content is high while its polyunsaturated fats content is very low, giving high oxidative stability, but its low molecular weight fatty acids means that the oil is digested differently and therefore considered more healthy.
Virgin coconut oil has also gained recognition in some quarters as a palliative treatment for viral conditions.
Unless they contain high levels of natural antioxidants such as vitamin E or beta-carotene, or are stabilised in other ways, oils that contain more than a very low percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (including omega-3s and -6s) will not generally be stable enough to keep for culinary use; they quickly go rancid and therefore have largely been confined to the supplements market in capsule form.
While some health enthusiasts have advocated crushing flaxseed and hemp seed in the kitchen - if the seeds are swallowed with husks unbroken, then whatever omegas they contain will go straight down the toilet - the additional flavour they impart to breakfast cereals or salads is not to everyone's taste.
Markets and trends
It would be ridiculous to suggest that olive oil is a speciality oil in southern Europe, since it remains the main oil in culinary use, from frying (usually refined) to dressings (usually virgin). In northern Europe, however, it is still a speciality product with rising potential. In some UK supermarkets, for example, the selection of olive oils is almost as large as that for Scotch whisky.
Of the olive-growing countries in Europe, it is only in France that there is a wide range of other oils in common usage, particularly walnut and hazelnut, both of which have been in traditional use for years, and, to a lesser extent, grapeseed oil.
Meanwhile, groundnut (peanut) oil, which was once a valued frying oil in the UK - and still is in France, Belgium and the Netherlands - has been reduced to speciality status in the UK and elsewhere. The UK-based speciality oil supplier Statfold presses many of the seed oils it supplies, but the company's Julie Noon says it avoids handling peanuts because of the risk of cross-contamination and the association among buyers with peanut allergies.
Coconut oil, which has also been used as a frying oil in the past in the UK and was the 'popping' oil of choice at the popcorn stands in American cinemas, is now seeing something of a revival as a speciality food oil. Virgin coconut oil has recently made an impact on the UK sports scene - and was apparently included in the diet of the England rugby squad in 2007 - as its health-functional benefits and ability to raise the metabolic rate became recognised among sports nutritionists.
In Germany, cold pressed virgin rapeseed oil has become popular as a speciality food oil, commanding between five and 20 times the price of the standard oil at retail level. According to a recent report, over 16% of the country's rapeseed harvest in 2007 was channelled into this market, with over 580 small producers.
While finding virgin rapeseed oil would be far more of a challenge in the UK, its supermarkets are now awash with speciality oils, in addition to the growing range of special-origin olive oil labels. Rice bran oil and red palm oil - or a red palm/canola blend - can be found alongside toasted sesame oil for stir-frying, while avocado, pumpkin seed, hazelnut and macadamia are available for dressings, alongside infused oils of many types.
While there are a large number of relatively small companies serving the speciality oils market in Europe, one big player is AarhusKarlshamns (AAK) UK, which has been in the sector since the early 1990s. Marketing manager Judith Murdoch says that its biggest products in volume terms are toasted sesame for stir-frying and Asian cuisine and walnut oil for dressings, and that the company has even found a way to produce hemp and flaxseed oils that are shelf-stable in bottles.
Murdoch says that growth prospects for speciality oils in Europe are "exciting" especially in Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands, in addition to the UK - where there is currently a strong interest in foreign food styles. Her colleague, Suzanne Heffernan, claims the total retail value of the speciality oils market in the UK alone in 2007 is worth £5.2M - an increase of 14% in value and 31% in volume since the previous year. With no composite figures readily available from market research providers, a "guesstimate" for the EU market as a whole, therefore, would be around £30M.
Obviously, speciality oils go into food service and food manufacturing sectors too, and there are growth prospects here as well. The scope of usage is enormous - sweet almond oil, for example, even finds its way as a flavour component into a popular brand of gin - but there are limitations.
UK-based Silbury Marketing supplies a wide range of speciality oils to the food industry, and notes that in certain sectors nut and seed oils have suffered in recent years, with many food manufacturers effectively going 'nut free'.
She also notes a trade off between what interests new product development departments and what customers will pay for. "Exotic oils like argan always excite an interest," she says, " but then when you quote customers about £20 per kilo, their enthusiasm tends to die away."
