Blog

On the 18^th of September 2020 Kochii Eucalyptus Oil held its inaugural field day walk. The event took place in Kalannie, Western Australia and was met with 147 attendees. This year, the focus of the event was to celebrate and pay tribute to the Kalannie Distillers, who’s vision was instrumental in the development of Kochii Oil. It was wonderful to see members of the original Kalannie Distillers founding families in attendance.

The event started in the town centre with an address from Kochii Director, Mike Walter. Mike set the agenda for the day after acknowledging the traditional landowners and thanking the many hands that have contributed to the development of Kochii Eucalyptus Oil (KEO) brand. As the day progressed, the group visited a harvesting site on farm land owned by the McCreery family, where Dan Wildy, KEO Manger Forestry, Science and Compliance and Mike Kerkmans, KEO Harvest Manager, discussed the sustainable and renewal process of harvesting, followed by  a visit to coppicing trees.

The walk progressed to the distillery which provided a platform for Chief Operations Officer, Steve Meerwald to discuss; the growth of Kochii Eucalyptus Oil alongside the key objectives and business goals.

Steve commenced by providing statistics on the Kochii oil production from 2015 to current day:

The average growth in production over the last 3 years has been 112%. It was clear from the impressive growth that the demand for the oil has been attributed to the oil being 100 % natural, 100% sustainable and 100% traceable from farm paddock.

Moving on Steve outlined the direction of the business by setting the key objectives as follows:

• To continue to harvest mature trees and set a bank of coppice for the future. KEO estimates the Kalannie unit can  produce 150/200 mt of oil pa.
• To continue to develop international markets. 720kg of Kochii is currently in transit to the USA with an estimated launch of Kochii oil in the USA in November 2020.
• To produce organic eucalyptus oil by mid 2021, and have organic biomass to produce organic biochar and wood vinegar.

The announcement of an organic eucalyptus oil was very well received by the attendees who wait in anticipation for sampling.

Determined not to sit on their laurels, Steve further announced that in October/November 2020, a pilot pyrolysis plant which will produce biochar and wood vinegar will be commissioned in Kalannie, with an anticipated annual production of 2000 mt of biochar and 900 mt of wood vinegar. Both are environmental enhancing products with financial and social benefits to the community.

Providing the pilot goes to plan, Kochii will commit to investing in a larger, more sophisticated pyrolysis plant that will also produce syngas and renewable energy. This is likely to be a game changer for farming communities throughout Western Australia.

Steve concluded by sharing Kochii’s end game vision.

• 400 – 600 mt of high-grade Eucalyptus oil pa across at least 3 sites
• 20,000 mt of bio char pa
• 12,000 mt of wood vinegar pa
• 2 mw base load renewable energy equating to an annual carbon saving of in excess of 30,000 mt Co2 e per site

This all relies on these remarkable little trees that thrive in our harsh Australian climate, the farmers who had the vision to plant and care for them, our shareholder, KEO staff, suppliers and the people in our community who support us on our journey.

The revelation that this eucalyptus oil business was so much greater than just eucalyptus oil left a lasting impression on the field day attendees.

The event concluded with a social sundowner at the Kalannie Sport clubs, allowing attendees to ask detailed questions and of course sample some of the wonderful Kochii products.