West Sussex firm bottling sunshine

John Ford, of Sussex Gold, started growing sunflowers three years ago at Priors Byne Farm, Bines Road.

"We were already pressing rapeseed for culinary oil and I felt that we were so far south, I knew it was possible," said John.

After two rainy years of smaller crops, John expanded the sunflower field from eight to 40 yellow acres.

The farmer 'is in no doubt they make you smile' and likes 'how cheery they are on some of our duller days'.

But the true value of the crop is its taste, which is 'a strong peppery or rocket flavour'.

"Because we cold press we do not remove flavours or colour of the oil," explained John.

"Nearly all imported sunflower oil has had its colour and flavour removed. The market for our oil is much more specialist and you would not buy this oil for general cooking, it is much more suited to salad dressings or sauces."

Last year, Sussex Gold Sunflower Oil was only available from selected branches of Waitrose.

After this year's bumper harvest, John hopes the oil, rich in Omega 6, will be much more widely available.