Dubai gourmet store zooms on Limavady for healthy oils

Home cooks in Dubai, one of the world’s most dynamic business and tourism hubs, are now able to enjoy the health and other benefits from a unique culinary oil that’s grown and processed on a family farm near Limavady.

Three multi-award winning Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oils have just gone on sale in gourmet retailer Jones the Grocer in Dubai, the affluent commercial centre of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The deal, Broighter Gold’s most important export business over the past few years, was negotiated and sealed during the coronavirus lockdown, according to Leona Kane, who owns the small Northern Ireland company with husband Richard, a successful arable and vegetable farmer on land in the shade of the imposing Binevenagh mountain and overlooking Lough Foyle.

“We had to depend on zoom technology for the discussions that led to what could be extremely business for us in the affluent United Arab Emirates,” Leona remembers.

“It was quite an experience talking to Dubai from Limavady over computer.”

The husband and wife team run Broglasco Farm, near Myroe, which has been owned by the Kane family for more than 100 years and also has a successful business growing carrots. Leona launched Broighter Gold, cold pressed rapeseed oils for culinary uses back in 2011 in a farm diversification project and has driven the business to outstanding success which has included sales to major retailers in the UK, Republic of Ireland and France.

The successful 800-acre farm grows high yielding crops of wheat, barley, oilseed and potatoes. Ireland’s greatest find of gold artefacts from the Iron Age of the 1st century BC was found on the farm and is now held by the national Museum of Ireland. The company takes its name from the historic find.

Leona Kane, commenting on the listing with Jones the Grocer, says: “This is an immensely encouraging deal for us with one of the world’s leading gourmet retail stores. It was quite a challenge due to the lockdowns. We hope to build on the initial business throughout the United Arab Emirates and further afield from the retailer’s international network.”

Broighter Gold is now Northern Ireland’s leading producer of rapeseed culinary oils for chefs and home cooks throughout the UK, Republic of Ireland and parts of Europe. The small company has won UK Great Taste Awards and Blas na hEireann Awards for consistent quality, outstanding taste and innovation.

Jones the Grocer, an upmarket retailer originally started in Australia in 1996 and now has stylish stories in Dubai, other parts of the Emirates, Egypt and India. Jones the Grocer derived from a desire to run an unconventional grocery store, café and cheese room. It was the first of its kind serving fresh, simple and delicious, artisan food along with the best flat white coffees before they were even a thing.

Several elements of the first store in Sydney remain and can be seen in the UAE premises and in Qatar. These include a walk-in cheese room, communal dining tables, show kitchens, an exclusive range of gourmet private-label groceries as well as freshly baked cakes, pastries and breads.

There are now over 20 Jones the Grocer stores specialising in gourmet food and everyday living around the world and especially at airport retail zones.

Jones the Grocer has pushed its global expansion into India and Qatar in partnership with US-based HMS Host International, the global market leader in airport retailing. It has a shop in Dubai International Airport, among the busiest in the Middld East.

Broigther Gold has supplied its culinary oils to leading UK retailers such as Sainsbury’s and Liberty in London, the iconic department store in Regent Street.

Four Rapeseed flavours were created by Broighter Gold for Liberty. Other high profile customers of the oils include La Grande Epicerie in Paris, Brown Thomas in Dublin. The golden oils are widely used by leading chefs in Northern Ireland, such as Paula McIntyre, and the Republic of Ireland. They have also been endorsed by UK celebrity chef James Martin and, most recently, food writer Charlotte Pike.

The rapeseed oil will be competing for sales in Dubai against the longer established virgin olive oil for culinary purposes

“Rapeseed oil has become a popular alternative to olive oil because of the high content of Omega 3,6,9 and Vitamin E and also because it is probably the most versatile cooking oil.

"Broighter Gold oil also has half the saturated fat of olive oil,” explains Leona. “We’ve already provided information to the retailer on the health benefits of rapeseed oil and will continue to do so as we seek to build sales there.”