In Allan and Vicki Wright’s Samaria Farm essential oils enterprise, their best market is for rosewater and is in Japan. But that presents special problems, not least in getting the product better known there.
At our April meeting they said Japanese women were passionate about their skin and particularly their faces. So the ones who knew about Samaria Farm’s rosewater and lemon oil, liked them because they were organic, Australian and gentle on their skin.
Vicki said she and Allan were the only people in Australia to distil lemons to produce lemon oil. “It will stop your skin burning,” she said.
Their farm is 22 acres of red volcanic soil on a hill near Moorngag and is the perfect environment for 400 olive trees, Seville oranges, lemon myrtle trees and most notably, 2000 specially grafted Damascus bush roses.
Vicki said harvesting of rose flowers started at daybreak in late October and ran through November every day until 9am.
Blooms are placed in a stainless steel drum with water which is then heated on a gas ring. The steam generated collects the essential oils in two to three hours to produce 100 to 120ml rosewater. They can then distil that further to produce 3 to 5ml of rose oil worth $100 per millilitre.
But rosewater is the most viable product and half or what they produce they market as a facial mist in Japan, mainly to young women. “But we need to get our brand better known,” Vicki said.
To that end the Wrights will hold a rosewater festival in November on the Samaria property.
David Palmer