View our portal
menu

Manufacturing Leckford Estate Rapeseed Oil

Waitrose plays an important role in transforming the food system, working towards more sustainable food that supports both people and the planet. We want our Food Lovers to feel confident in what they buy, knowing that Waitrose is committed to ethical sourcing and sustainability every step of the way.

Regenerative Crop Rotation
Leckford Estate rapeseed oil is grown within a 12-year regenerative cycle, providing crop diversity, year-round crop cover and increased soil health. This is good for the flora and fauna and contributes to the delicious flavours in our oil.
Strip Till Sowing
Sown with a one-pass strip-till drill into the stubble of the previous wheat crop, this process avoids the use of the plough and conventional minimum tillage crop techniques, causing minimal soil disturbance and helping to build soil health.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
Our objective is to reduce the use of chemicals for managing pests. Our rapeseed is sown alongside three other companion crops (buckwheat, fenugreek and berseem clover) to help protect the crop from fleabeetle damage and reduce the reliance on synthetic inputs.
INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
Our rapeseed is grown using an integrated nutrient management approach. The objectives here is to minimise the environmental impact of fertilisers and to improve nutrient use efficiency, e.g. by applying synthetic fertiliser with additives and biostimulants.
PROCESSED AND BOTTLED ON SITE
The harvested seed is taken from the grain store to our processing unit on the farm where it is pressed and bottled before being sent off to Waitrose shops up and down the country.
BY-PRODUCT FED TO CATTLE
Once the oil has been extracted, the spent cakes of rapeseed are then fed back to our cattle providing a highly nutritious source of food.

RETURN TO WHAT DRIVES US

Our Cookies

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. Some of these cookies are essential to make our site work and others help us to improve by giving us some insight into how the site is being used.

Read more about essential and non-essential cookies in our Privacy Notice