We LOVE our land. We want to see it flourish…
Farming and the countryside is in my blood…
I grew up on Bottom Farm in the Northamptonshire village of Hargrave, surrounded by fields my family has tended for generations. After university, I came home to join my parents as a fourth‑generation farmer, but it didn’t take long to realise that simply doing what we’d always done wouldn’t secure the farm’s future. We needed to evolve, and that’s when the idea for our cold‑pressed rapeseed oil first took root…
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Generations of devotion
Enjoying a rest. Duncan’s Great Uncle, Lance Farrington (on the right) next to Duncan’s Grandfather, Fredrick Farrington.
Great Uncle Walter Hawes planting potatoes.
Robert Farrington (Duncan’s father) joins his father on the farm. Here they are harvesting barley, with his sister Freda helping as it is all hands to the pump.
Frederick’s home becomes one of the first in the UK to run on renewable energy as they install a wind turbine.
Duncan becomes a LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) farmer.
Duncan and Eli get married!
Bottom Farm becomes a LEAF Demonstration Farm, launched by actress Tamsin Greig (The Archers, Black Books, Green Wing, Episodes).
Farrington Oils is born. Duncan and his mother Angela produce 100 bottles of Mellow Yellow on the first day. In this first year 6,500 bottles are produced.
Adam Gray starts using Mellow Yellow in his Michelin starred restaurant.
Mellow Yellow reaches the shelves of its first supermarket, Waitrose.
Eli uses our oil to create a Honey & Mustard dressing and mayonnaise, both go on to win Great Taste awards
Mellow Yellow launches in Booths, Ocado & Sainsbury’s
Nigella names Mellow yellow as her rapeseed oil of choice in her cookbook, Kitchen
Eli creates a new Classic Vinaigrette, Balsamic Vinegar Dressing & Garlic Mayonnaise
The entire range receives accreditation from the Vegetarian Society and approval from Coeliac UK
Chilli Oil is introduced to the Mellow Yellow range
Duncan wins the Carlsberg UK, Northamptonshire Local Food Hero
Farrington’s Mellow Yellow selected as partner by Michel Roux Jr’s Cookery School
Bottom Farm receives a Royal visit from the Duke of Gloucester. Annual production is now at 400,000 bottles
Duncan completes his next production investment by doubling the bottling line with all British engineered machinery.
Further expansion follows, with a development kitchen for Eli to create more delicious Mellow Yellow products.
Duncan receives his Fellowship of the Royal Agricultural Societies at the House of Lords for his work with LEAF and his innovation and research on cold pressed rapeseed oil.
Mellow Yellow Chilli & Cumin dressing launches in farm shops and Ocado
Mellow Yellow cold pressed rapeseed oil, Classic Vinaigrette and Honey & Mustard Dressing are launched in Co-op.
Our rapeseed oil and Garlic Mayonnaise both pick up a prestigious star in the Great Taste awards
Farrington’s partner with RePurpose Global and Mellow Yellow becomes plastic neutral.
Farrington’s Mellow Yellow are certified by the UN as carbon neutral and sign the United Nations Climate Neutral Now Initiative Pledge
We are honoured to receive a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development for our industry leading commitment to the environment.
Mellow Yellow Cold Pressed rapeseed oil and Honey & Mustard Dressing win a 1 and 2 star award in the Great Taste Awards
Duncan is awarded an MBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours List for Services to Agriculture & The Food & Drink Industry.
Farrington’s farm wins the Gold Farming Environment Award at the Northamptonshire Food & Drink awards
We celebrate 20 years of Mellow Yellow with a celebratory event at the farm
Years of research
Returning to my university research on rapeseed oil, a passion was awoken, which quickly turned into an obsession for the fantastic culinary properties and nutritional benefits packed in those tiny little seeds. Following years of research, I launched Farrington’s Mellow Yellow® in 2005 as Britain’s first ‘seed to bottle’ cold pressed rapeseed oil.
In the early days…
With my Mother’s help bottling the oil, I would drive around local shops in my old battered car, gaining customers who remain loyal to this day. Later in our farmhouse kitchen, my wife Eli, with her superior taste buds and trusty jam jar to hand, started creating salad dressings and infused oils to add to the range.
Today, our Mellow Yellow range is sold in shops and restaurants nationwide and abroad. We now produce as many bottles in a day as I did in the whole of our first year.
Provenance remains as important as ever and with our fantastic team we ensure that the same passion, attention to detail and quality ingredients still goes into every bottle we make.
