What’s the best oil for your bottom line?

Choosing the right cooking and frying oil for your business isn’t always a straightforward task. And in the current market, faced as we are with price hikes and staffing shortages, purchasing the right products and ingredients has never been more important.

That’s why the smart foodservice professionals are paying close attention to the origin and quality of the products they purchase. Your choice of oils needs to be subject to the same close scrutiny.

“As the old Castrol ad says, oils ain’t oils,” points out chef Peter Wright. “That is to say, not all oils are the same – and this is especially the case in foodservice, where there isn’t a one-product-fits-all solution.

“The first thing to recognise is that every person needs a certain amount of fat to stay healthy – no one can have a 100 per cent fat free diet. Oil is 100 per cent fat and we know that polyunsaturated fats are a better option than saturated fats. So it’s long been recognised that from a health perspective, fruit and vegetable oils are a better choice than beef tallow and that’s why we’ve seen a big shift in the market over the past decades.

“The next element to consider is what you’re using the oil for. There are some oils which should be used for cooking, and others which are best splashed onto a salad, or served on a plate to dip your bread in. They tend to be the more expensive oils, with stronger aroma, darker in colour and quite bitter. Whereas when you’re cooking, you don’t necessarily want a strong-flavoured oil - you want something that will emulsify and fry well.

“In other words, you need to use the right oil for the right job. My general rule of thumb when it comes to food ingredients is the less processing, the better - and squeezing olives and putting them in a centrifuge to extract the oil is a pretty simple process. But you wouldn’t want to make a mayonnaise out of an extra virgin olive oil because it won’t give you a very pleasant result. Similarly, you wouldn’t want to deep fry in olive oil because it has a low smoke point and will burn too quickly – it won’t give you the right outcome.”

And while cheap imported oils used to be seen as a bargain, there’s been a growing awareness in recent years that they are frequently unreliable and inconsistent in performance. Manufacturers have been known to use shortcuts in the production process, heating the oil to super high temperatures, which dramatically reduces its quality and fry life.

International oil supply chains under pressure

Consistency of supply is another major concern right now – with the war in Ukraine having adversely impacted international supply chains, to the point that takeaway stores across the UK have been forced to closed due to their inability to source frying oil. 

Thankfully, in Australia we have homegrown oil producers engaged in authentic ‘paddock to plate’ production, refining oil from product sourced from local farmers and making it available to foodservice businesses. As Peter says, “When it comes to deep frying, there are some great suppliers out there which can provide you with a turnkey solution. This is especially important when your operation does a lot of deep frying – because getting rid of used oil and emptying deep fryers is not only a costly and time-consuming exercise but a major hassle.”

In Wagga Wagga NSW, local producer Riverina Oils has built a state of the art production plant and engaged in extensive research and development to produce Goodrop Premium Frying Oil from 100 per cent Australian non-GM canola seeds. “Given the international supply chain uncertainties, there’s been a big demand for Goodrop from Australian foodservice operators, because we’re able to alleviate their concerns,” says Goodrop Oils marketing manager Melissa Clayton. “We have a vertically integrated structure, where we source canola locally, crush it and refine it in our plant to produce Goodrop, which has been specially formulated to have a longer fry life than comparable canola oils and is therefore better value.”

Goodrop’s innovation team worked on the project for a number of years, having identified a gap in the market for a longer-lasting canola oil. “Canola is very popular in Australia – along with cottonseed, it’s the predominant oil used in frying. It has a high heat transfer and whereas olive oil tends to impart flavour to food, canola has a nice clean aftertaste which makes it really good for using in any meal preparation,” Melissa explains.

“There are some other local producers, some overseas products and some that are a blend of the two, but our oil is 100 per cent Australian and we have full traceability of the whole process,” she adds. “That goes hand in hand with supporting local growers and building close relationships with them.

Local sourcing helps ensure product quality

“I think post-Covid there has been a shift to foodservice customers and consumers both wanting to support more Australian products, and we’ve also seen a growing concern and awareness about sustainability. Moving forward I think we will continue to see a shift towards sourcing local product wherever possible.

“From what we understand there have been some shortages from suppliers sourcing cooking oil from overseas, shipment delays due not only to the war in Ukraine but also environmental factors. And when there are shortages it makes it harder for suppliers to follow their usual strict quality regime. But because we source locally, we have full traceability from seed right through to package, so we can ensure consistency of product quality because we can commit to following the same strict QA standards.” 

Melissa emphasises that a longer lasting oil is a better choice for your business’ bottom line. “Our research showed the majority of frying oils on the market last around 40 hours before reaching their maximum usage life as determined by testing the percentage of Total Polar Material (TPM). Goodrop on the other hand lasts for around 54 hours depending upon the usage environment. When your oil deteriorates at a quicker rate, you need to change it more often to maintain the integrity of the food.

Eliminating oil storage and transfer issues

“Our foodservice customers are now seeing the added value and the feedback we’ve had has been fantastic – that it does last longer and the product delivers a great mouthfeel, the food is less oily and it has a crispness to it. And it’s not just the oil itself but the fact that we offer a complete storage and disposal solution. Each delivery comes in a vacuum-sealed polybag housed within a Goodrop Smart Trolley, which eliminates all the food safety issues related to storage and transfer. We replace the trolley each time so our customers have the assurance of knowing they have 100 per cent fresh oil, as opposed to topping up new oil over residue of the old. Plus the trolley is easy to use and to move around in the kitchen.”

Having begun distribution locally in Wagga Wagga, Goodrop has since expanded into Sydney, Canberra, Victoria metro and regional, and most recently into Queensland. It has also introduced a new packaging format, the Goodrop ‘bag in box’ which is similar to a wine cask and designed for use in smaller kitchens. “The trolleys come in 80 litre or 150 litre formats whereas the bag in box is 15 litres. It has a flowtap so customers can turn on and off depending on how much oil they need, and the tab seal maintains freshness. It’s easy to handle and easy to dispose of, and the oil is once again sealed in a polybag to prevent oxidation and light migration, ensuring its freshness and integrity.”