As you drive towards Margate it is hard not to miss the beautiful purple fields of lavender blooming brightly at Essential Oils Tasmania’s (EOT), Brookfield Farm site.
A favourite with locals and tourists, there is always an admirer photographing the flowers.
This specialty crop is close to harvest, so time is running out to grab that snap.
Simon Wells EOT CEO said “Brookfield Farm is a stunning property and we have had incredible interest in our Tasmanian lavender crop this year from both locals and
visitors to Kingborough, it really has been overwhelming.”
“We are about to commence harvesting our lavender and producing essential oil.
“It’s always a bit sad to see the beautiful colour disappearing, but we have orders to fill.”
At present the owners do not allow public access to the farm, but there may be future plans to change this.
Simon said, “At the end of the day we are a specialised agribusiness, not a tourism entity so our focus is always on oil quality and meeting the requirements of our clients who are seeking the world’s best lavender oil”.
“We understand that Brookfield Farm is a very special property and that people would like the opportunity to access and enjoy the farm and that is something we are working on for future seasons.”
Established in 1983 EOT has been producing globally renowned large volume essential oils and plant extracts for the international flavour, fragrance and aromatherapy sectors.
The business has been headquartered in Kingborough and in 2016 moved from Firthside, Kingston to Brookfield Farm, Margate.
It employs 10 to 15 staff including chemists, logistic and specialised production staff as well as engaging experienced growers around Tasmania.
The business also grows a specialised boronia crop at Longley, which is also processed at the Brookfield farm manufacturing site for international export.
Although being native to Western Australia the brown boronia grows extremely well in the Tasmanian environment.
The perfume is in demand in the high-end stores of London and New York, and with the boronia being one of the most expensive perfume bases in the world it places the product in an exclusive market.
The EOT product range includes peppermint, fennel, parsley, lavender, boronia, kunzea oils, and other specialty Tasmanian native oils.
These are used in food products, fragrance and aromatherapy.
Oral hygiene products, toothpaste require thousands of kilograms of peppermint essence and parsley oil is found in many gut care and complementary medicines.
Simon said, “The global essential oil market is now worth US 6.13 billion and expanding quickly, our own business is growing in scale and so is the interest in what we are doing with the essential oils at Brookfield Farm.”
With the industry expansion and future plan for the Brookfield Farm, the experience might become arguably one of Kingborough and Tasmania’s most popular drawcards.
