According to Mintel, 67% of US fragrance shoppers are interested in “fragrances made with sustainable ingredients”,  and yet only 5% of launches in the Beauty/Personal Care (BPC) category feature such fragrances. This gap offers significant opportunities for brands to drive consumers to purchase eco-friendly fragranced products.

The story of Eucalyptus Yandee began as a quest for ecological sustainability. Back in the 1990s, a group of wheat farmers in Western Australia experimented with an ecological solution to prevent salinity issues on their farms caused by a rising water table. 

They discovered that intercropping deep-rooted Eucalyptus trees, like Yandee or Kochii, could effectively lower the water table and minimize the salinity rising from deep in the soil. Today, harvesting these Eucalyptus plantings now yields essential oils and a source of stable income for farmers.

Yandee is harvested using an arborist method called coppicing. Coppicing means cutting down the trees to just above the ground and triggering the deep root system development of the plants. After coppicing, Eucalyptus Yandee would put on more lead biomass. This method has been used for thousands of years to maintain the surrounding ecosystem and strengthen the plant simultaneously. The Eucalyptus trees' deep roots help counter the soil's salinity, improving their row intercropping of wheat and providing a high cineole yielding Eucalyptus oil.

Read our blog for more about Saving Eucalyptus Trees by Harvesting Them.

Adding to the sustainable story of Australian Eucalyptus, the “spent charge” biomass from our Eucalyptus Yandee distillation is being used to create clean-burning fuel and, through a unique pyrolysis process, the byproducts biochar and wood vinegar. This closed-loop system is helping to curb climate change one Eucalyptus tree at a time! With each kilogram of Eucalyptus Oil sold, we are planting an additional Eucalyptus tree in Australia. Eucalyptus Yandee is an eco-friendly choice for companies looking for a compelling sustainable ingredient story.

Consumers desire safer, greener, and more effective fragrances. Supporting this, consumer groups are pushing for more transparency on fragrance ingredients rather than a general “fragrance” listing. Taking the initiative, Unilever now discloses fragrance ingredients down to 0.01%, offering their consumers intelligent information and third-party certifications.

Bold and genuine commitments to sustainability, like carbon neutrality and traceability, can help fragrance brands win consumers’ trust. Between Jan 2016 and Dec 2021, there was a 420.27% increase globally in carbon-neutral claims on packaging across all end-use categories.

Read more about carbon neutral as a top 10 global cosmetic trend. 

Harvest Finally Starts at Buhlambar

Our annual Tea Tree harvest finally started last week at our Buhlambar Essential Oil Farm after constant rain and clouds delayed the harvest for the last six months.

Harvesting occurs using a sustainable practice called coppicing, which means harvesting without removing roots and trunks. The coppicing method gathers our plant biomass for processing via steam distillation, a process used for many of our products including Tea Tree and Eucalyptus.

Cutting the trees to a low level after harvesting, with minimal soil disturbance, ensures fresh green shoots emerge from the (lignotuber) rootball in the Spring.

Read our blog, How Coppicing Eucalyptus Works. 
Not to be forgotten, we have also been busy at our Buhlambar farm tending to our Lemon Scented Tea Tree, Lavender Tea Tree, Fragonia^®, and Lemon Myrtle, which will all be harvested later this year.