Eugen Duma produces vegetable oils derived from sunflowers, walnuts and pumpkins. We met him outside his oil press and he willingly told my guide about his business, which is run by himself and his wife.
Making vegetable oils was common among the locals in Turda until 2007 when EU regulations regarding food safety had to be followed. This led to that only(?) Eugen Duma is still allowed to sell vegetable oils, while the other ones can only make them for personal consumption.
Eugen bought his first oil press from an Italian company just after the revolution in 1989, and now he has 3 oil presses where the oil is produced only by cold pressing. That is keeping the temperature below about 30°C in order to obtain the best quality.
Eugen cultivates sunflowers himself, but he also buys sunflower seeds from other growers. Cultivation of sunflowers is rotated annually, such that one field is cultivated with sunflowers one year, with maize the second year and with wheat the third year.
He’s a member of Slow Food Turda and he has participated in Slow Food fairs in Bulgaria, Hungary and Croatia. He sells his oils at local markets and in small, specialised food stores.
The solid stuff remaining after the sunflower oil has been extracted is mixed with maize, barley and other cereals and turned into animal feed.
Eugen recommended my guide to swallow a spoon of sunflower oil every morning because of its health benefits.