Inside Dyson's UK farm where its ‘top secret' new venture is finally revealed

News.com.au

05-08-2025

When I scored an invite to find out how Dyson's 'top secret' new product was made, my mind conjured up images of a futuristic factory with robotic staff.
So imagine my surprise when I ended up in a muddy field, sporting a pair of Hunter gumboots, somewhere in the middle of England.
Unbeknown to me, the British tech-giant – famed the world over for its bagless, cordless vacuums and in more recent years its innovative hair tools – is also one of the UK's biggest farmers, producing potatoes, cereals and strawberries. It also generates energy for thousands of British homes.
And it turns out, its farming arm has been busy growing a whole new crop, specifically to go in its newest innovation: the Dyson Omega nourishing range.
Comprised (so far) of just two products, a leave-in conditioning spray, and a hydrating hair oil, both contain the 'Dyson Oli blend', made up of seven omega-rich oils to help improve hair health.
But the star of that formulation blend is undoubtedly a sunflower oil harvested on Dyson's own farms in Lincolnshire.
Of course, the ingredient isn't gleaned from any old sunflower. Dyson Farming trialled over 60 varieties of the iconic yellow flower to identify the breed richest in natural ceramides.
Now there are over 800,000 sunflowers on the land, many of which are currently surrounding me in a field on a soggy summer's day in north east England.
The flower's bright yellow hue goes as far as the eye can see. They're also incredibly tall, with some of towering over my 147cm frame, growing a staggering 6 feet (183cms) in height.
Despite the seemingly endless sea of sunshine before me, Dyson said the sunflower crop takes up just 9 hectares of its 36,000 acres of working land – that's about the size of 20,000 football fields or over 100,000 Olympic swimming pools for those who, like me, aren't up to scratch on farming lingo.
From farm to formulations
But if you're wondering how on earth Dyson even got into agricultural work, let alone its path to growing the core ingredient in its newest hair formulations range, then SNAP. You're in good company.
Dyson Farming was quietly established in 2012, and is now Britain's largest farming business. Its most well-known crop is its strawberries, grown all year round in a 26-acre glasshouse that produces about 1250 tonnes of the fruit.
Recently, Dyson trialled a new way to grow the iconic British fruit, using a Hybrid Vertical Growing System that looks suspiciously like a ferris wheel at night with its neon lights.
Its engineers have even created a nifty robot (I knew there would be a clever bot involved somewhere) that can pick the strawberries at a rate of about 5 berries per minute, or roughly one berry every 12 seconds.
The results were promising, with Dyson stating the farming innovation boosted its yields by 250 per cent while also optimising the quality of the fruit.
As a result, Kathleen Pierce, the Global President of Dyson Beauty, said the union between the tech giant's farming arm and its expanding beauty portfolio isn't as strange as some people think.
'Farming might seem like an unexpected extension of the Dyson ecosystem, but it's aligned with our core belief in solving problems through engineering and long-term investment,' she told news.com.au.
'Dyson Farming is about transforming how we grow food and ingredients, with technology, data, and sustainability at the centre.
'From using precision irrigation to harvesting at optimal nutrient windows, it allows us to control quality and create traceable supply chains.'
Dyson's top secret product revealed
Indeed, the company's founder and chief engineer Sir James Dyson first hinted at the two arms joining forces a couple of years ago.
'It may seem odd for someone with a technology company to invest in and be in farming,' he said at the New York launch of the Airstrait in 2023.
'I've done it because I like growing food.
'We've also done the farms because I want to grow things that might make products. But that's as far as I'm going to go.'
Two years on, we finally know what Sir Dyson was talking about, and how it helps its legion of loyal beauty customers.
'We've brought together two completely different worlds – farming and beauty – to develop a product that unlocks healthy hair with quality ingredients,' he said.
'Omega is the first Dyson product to feature an ingredient grown on Dyson Farms.
'Engineered for all hair types, it solves the problem of dry, tangled, frizzy hair using high-quality ingredients.'
Ms Pierce said it's likely the sunflower crop is the first of many that could take starring roles in future Dyson releases.
'By growing sunflower seeds on our Lincolnshire farm, we can optimise the crop for nutrient-rich oil through precision farming methods. This allowed us to ensure not only the efficacy of our ingredients, but also greater sustainability and long-term innovation.
'It's a very Dyson approach, taking control of the end-to-end process to deliver better outcomes for the user.
'The success of our sunflower oil from Dyson Farming has opened the door to new ideas and ingredients. While I can't reveal what's next just yet, I can say that our research and development pipeline is rich with experimentation, and farming plays an increasingly important role in shaping that.'
Benefits of the Dyson Omega nourishing range
As well as the Dyson Farming Sunflower seed oil, the Dyson Omega nourishing range also contains Olive oil, Abyssinian oil, Corn oil, Avocado oil, Sesame oil and Macadamia oil, each selected for having unique hair-healing properties.
Both the Dyson Omega Leave-in Conditioning Spray, and Dyson Omega Hydrating Hair Oil are silicone-free, with claims that include being conditioning and smoothing on strands as well as being able to seal in moisture for softer, more manageable hair.
Interestingly, the products – priced at $95 and $85 respectively – are also heat protestants, a feature not previously afforded to the first Dyson formulations range, Chitosan, released in August 2024.
'We received incredibly useful feedback from Chitosan users, and one of the clearest insights was that many consumers still rely on tools that expose their hair to extreme heat,' Ms Pierce told news.com.au.
'While our devices are engineered to protect hair, we wanted to support customers who haven't made that switch yet. So with the Omega range, we introduced heat protection up to 230°C.
'It's about meeting users where they are in their journey and helping them protect their hair regardless of the tool they use. At the same time, it complements Dyson technology beautifully, giving users that extra layer of nourishment and defence for healthier-looking hair.'