Farming is in Robert Mackenzie’s blood. For nearly 150 years the family has farmed the rich fertile soils of Easter Ross. Located just south of Tain, Cullisse Farm has long been known for its crops of oats, barley, wheat, potatoes and turnips, as well as for its prize winning herd of pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle with family stud names like Blackbird, Betty Black and Gypsy Fairy. The farm is now also known for its quality, cold-pressed Cullisse Highland Rapeseed Oil.
As tradition dictates in the Highlands, it was expected that the eldest son would take on the farm, so Robert, the second of three brothers, took a different route and studied law at the University of Edinburgh. In 2006, he visited a Farm Africa charity project in Kenya where he observed the village community of Kitui being shown how to press their sunflower seeds to make a crude oil which was filtered through muslin bags to produce a golden oil for home cooking but also to sell as a vital source of income. This simple process got Robert thinking that he could do that with the rapeseed his family had been growing back home in Scotland for 30 years.
