Pure Oil NZ

In the past decade Pure Oil has grown from an under-utilised oil extraction plant into New Zealand’s leading oilseed processor and manufacturer of high-quality edible oils and stock feeds. More than 80 growers in the South Island supply the company with high oleic rapeseed, conventional rapeseed (canola), high oleic sunflower seeds, and GE-free soya beans.  Most products are sold domestically with some edible oils exported to Australia and the Pacific. 

To diversify in the early 2000s, mining company Solid Energy built a seed processing plant near Christchurch with the idea of producing biofuel. The venture had limited success. For some years Nick Murney, as an investment banker and chartered accountant, had the company as a major client. Later he joined the company, managed its crush plant for a time, and in 2012 with a group of investors bought the company assets. He is currently managing director. 

Nick says that, when they started Pure Oil, the plant was a going concern but operating way below its potential. They switched from producing biodiesel to human food oils, with the seed protein being used to create stock feeds, so there was almost no waste.  

“From the start it was a learning process, learning to run the plant and get the most out of the equipment, learning the agronomy side to help farmers to increase yields”, he says. “And then we had to learn how to market our products, who to sell them to, who our customers were.” 

Nick says that first and foremost they are a grain handler, making sure the grain is free from contamination, bringing it in from farms, getting the moisture and temperature down to the right levels, cleaning the seeds to take all the chaff out, and storing it under the right conditions before extraction.  

“So, if you do all those things right you tend to get more oil and higher quality cold pressed oil, and then the proteins in the stock feeds are also in a better state”, he says. “Temperature is important. Once the seed temperature is down to 12-14 degrees C it maintains oil quality. If it gets too warm the seed starts to germinate and oil quality drops.” 

The oil is extracted through expeller presses using energy and friction – no heat, chemicals or additives are used – leading to higher quality in both edible oils and stock feeds. 

“Residual oil in stock foods is 10 to 12%, which is higher than other imported protein meals and that’s a bonus for markets we’ve developed. Some products go directly to dairy, poultry or pig industry uses. Horse feed is also important – we have our own brand called ‘Leg-up’, which we sell direct to breeders”. 

“With 20,000 tonnes of seed being processed our meal market has grown every year. A lot goes to other feed manufacturers who mix our protein with other feeds, and pelletise it.” 

When the company first put the Good Oil brand bottled cold-pressed rapeseed oil onto the domestic market it was the only seeded oil of its type (and still is). “That meant that we had to grow our market from scratch, talking to consumers about what this oil does, how it fits in and where they would want to use it.” 

“We've been selling it for eight years and every year sales keep growing. We do a lot of social media marketing now and that's been quite effective in getting our message out there and keeping our price fair.”   

The company relies on contract growers to supply seed crops for processing. Around 80 growers in the South Island supply rapeseed, sunflower and soybeans via a fixed price contract. “We declare a price and then our farmers put in maybe 50 to 100 ha, and we supply the seed. Then we've got an agronomy team that helps farmers maximise their crops. Every season is a bit different, and the agronomy advice given is always tailored to the season.” 

Val McMillan at Altonbrook Farm is one such grower. With five full time staff, Altonbrook is a well-established enterprise of 685ha with around 450ha in arable crops grown using no-till techniques on a 7-year rotation. Crops typically include wheat, barley, grass seed, peas, clover, and sunflowers. Val has been growing sunflowers for the Good Oil brand for about 5 years. They till-sow strips and sow into them at a time advised by Good Oil.  Harvest is generally in mid-March. 

Nick says research and development is key to growth. “We invest a lot into R & D for our farmers with the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR), looking at how they may be able to improve yields, use less inputs, or whatever is important at the time. That relationship is going really well and we're getting good gains year on year. We're learning lots more about some of the older crops we've grown, like high oleic rapeseed, and the newer crops, like sunflower and soybeans, and how to best grow them.”  

Initially the company focused on rapeseed (a standard canola) but soon started to grow a high oleic rapeseed as well, which is higher in mono-unsaturated oil. “It is a very good frying oil, stable, and gives a long life to products that have been cooked with it or that have it as an ingredient. That is now the main seed that we grow. The next crop we introduced was high oleic sunflower, and in the last few years we’ve started growing soybeans.” 

“This year we've got 150 ha of soybeans growing. They are supposed to like the heat and Canterbury is definitely turning on the heat this 2023/2024 season. With soybeans, you grow a rhizobial bacterium with the seed in the ground – there's a symbiotic relationship between this bacterium and soybeans – and this year we've achieved excellent nodulation. The crops are looking really healthy, we need just a little more rain for the dryland guys, and we should get a good harvest.” 

“For our winter rapeseed we’ll be growing 3-4000 ha this year, and that's planted in March and harvested in January. We grow a big block in Southland, and the other big growing area is South Canterbury – mainly Fairlie and Timaru.” 

“This year we have 600 ha of sunflowers spread all over Canterbury and a little bit in Southland. Birds are a challenge when this crop is just getting established and then again at harvest, so we've been working on that and making some gains. Both soybeans and sunflowers are planted in October/November and harvested in April. 

Future growth 

“We've been growing about 10% a year over the past decade and I'd like to see that continue. We processed 20,000 tonnes last year and we need to invest in more capacity over the next 12 to 18 months so we can grow and process more and develop more products and new markets.” As we've developed our products and markets, we have spread our risks around and got into different industries – human food, stock feeds, industrial uses – if it had oil in it, we were looking to put a product in as well as continuing our existing brands.” 

“We've always had an export programme – typically 20% to 30% of revenue – and that will continue into markets in Australia, Asia and Pacific islands.” 

“Arable Farms are getting bigger, and equipment is getting larger and more expensive, so areas sown per farm tend to be bigger.  Southland has become important for us, including northern Southland and South Otago areas. We have put a young agronomist into that region to assist with the growers there. There’re always more opportunities for farmers, and the crops must suit their rotation and commercial realities must be met.” 

Current products include: 

• The “Good Oil” range of cold pressed, minimally processed extra virgin oils 
• High oleic and frying and ingredient oils for food manufacturers 
• Cold pressed and heat-treated feeds for livestock 
• Industrial vegetable oils for adjuvants and dust suppressants  
• Sustainably grown, high oleic, GE free oilseed crops