WOMEN WHO LAUNCH –
Second Nature Oils
WORDS: Liv Morgan
“When you’re growing food organically it
is a little like Russian roulette,” says organic
rapeseed oil producer, Kitty Colchester. Of course
she is referring to the hit or miss nature of a
guaranteed crop. The 34-year-old Kilkenny native
set up Second Nature Oils as a sole trader in 2009.
Born on Drumeen Farm to parents who were
pioneers of the organic movement, long before
it was fashionable or profitable, Kitty spent years
travelling, doing various jobs and volunteering
before she entered the world of entrepreneurship.
“Approaching 30, still not having found my
niche in life, I headed off to Ethiopia to work in
orphanges, food camps and refugee camps. After
nearly a year I started to see my place was in
Ireland and that I wanted to start my own business
which would be involved in sustainable food
production,” she says.
On her return to Ireland, Kitty had notions of
producing organic ready-made meals. Though,
some would say, fate stepped in to put her on the
right path; “When I was on my way back from the
airport I heard Pat Kenny on the radio talking to
a nutritional dietician about the health benefits of
rapeseed oil.” In the knowledge that her father, Ben,
was already growing the seed and pressing the
oil to create expeller cake, a high protein feed for
poultry, Kitty’s entrepreneurial seed was sown.
She commenced with a Start Your Own Business
course with Kilkenny County Enterprise Board,
followed with an Organic Production course with
Teagasc and then some market study. “I did some
research on the Internet and couldn’t find anyone
else doing it in Ireland so I decided to go for it. My
boyfriend was working on the farmer’s market in
Clonmel so I asked him could I go along, sell some
oil and see what the feedback was. That’s how it
started,” recalls Kitty.
Second Nature Oils began with sales of 2,500
bottles. In 2011 Kitty has forecast sales of 40,000.
The popularity of the oil soared once people
became knowledgeable of its benefits; organic
cold pressed extra virgin rapeseed oil has a higher
content of Omega 3, 6 and 9 — cholesterol reducing
fatty acids — compared with olive and sunflower
oil. Hence Second Nature Oil’s reference to it as the ‘Happy Heart Oil’!
Read more about Second Nature Oils in the Winter 2011 issue of WMB, on newsstands from December 1st!
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