Oiling the cogs of a market leader

A KwaZulu-Natal based firm, Busby Oils Natal (B.O.N), is one of the leading producers of pharmaceutical grade eucalyptus oil in the world, with a heritage dating back to 1972, and a customer list stretching across Africa, Europe and the US. 

The company is headquartered on a 10ha spread in Hilton. Apart from its bulk supply to large multinational companies, the family-run concern also manufactures its own B.O.N label products – the final quality control and packaging of this personal care product range being carried out at the Hilton premises.

The eucalyptus oil distillation factory is based on a farm in Richmond, formerly owned by the family but transferred to a Communal Property Trust, as part the government’s land transformation goals.

But this has not hampered Busby’s operations and they continue to operate from Richmond, providing the local community with jobs and an income stream from the eucalyptus leaf supply from the farm.

The firm’s chief executive, Jarrett Pech, an entrepreneurial-minded chartered accountant, who took over the family business from his father Peter 10 years ago, said Busby had come a long way in the past 40 years.

“The eucalyptus oil operations were started in the 1960s by my grandfather on our farm near Lothair in Mpumalanga. My father Peter took over the oil operations in 1972 and used his strong technical background to develop our refining production process. 

“This allowed us to break into the international market and supply directly to large flavour and fragrance houses and pharmaceutical companies. When I completed my articles in Johannesburg, and went into merchant banking, I had no idea I would one day come full circle and join the family business.”

The possibility of taking over the business only started looking attractive in 2002, when he and his wife Kim married, and realised they had no desire to raise children in Gauteng.

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“In researching expansion opportunities for Busby, I soon realised the eucalyptus smithii species (which is the species we need for our oil production) was well suited to the Midlands and that between Sappi and NCT there was an opportunity to set up a distillation plant in the greater Pietermaritzburg area. So in 2003, Kim and I bought a farm near Richmond, left Johannesburg, and started our new adventure.”

Eucalyptus oil is a powerful anti-microbial, meaning it’s anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal – so it is used in many different ways and in hundreds of different products. 

Busby eucalyptus oil is triple distilled to ensure the purity level (or cineol content) is approximately 90%. In comparison, Chinese production ranges between 70% and 80%.

Busby Oils Natal chief executive Jarrett Pech.

The high quality of Busby’s oil, Pech said, has helped many of their customers become market leaders.

Think South Africa’s top selling Zam-Buk brand. “We have been supplying eucalyptus oil to Zam-Buk for decades, and as most of us know, it’s an extraordinarily good product.”

The company has also expanded into a retail product range.

“When my wife fell pregnant with our first child 10 years ago, she searched for a good stretch mark tissue oil, which did not contain liquid paraffin, as most do. She asked me to create a tissue oil with natural oils that would be safe, nourishing, and that really worked,” Pech said.

After months of trial and error, and by the time their son Stephen was born, they had a product she loved: Liquid Pure Gold Tissue Oil, made with a blend of natural avocado, grapeseed and rosehip oils, and now sold in leading pharmacies. Now they produce more than a ton every month for customers worldwide.

“We’re now offering a full range of B.O.N. skincare products, and recently launched the B.O.N Natural Baby range, which is starting to sell well.”

Expansion and growth have helped propel the business to where it is today. Since 2003, Busby Oils Natal has grown steadily and now has a staff complement of more than 150 people working across its harvesting, distillation and personal care operations.