Frank's View

Planting seeds and watching them grow

• Published on April 4, 2017

Frank Wilson


There’s a tremendous sense of achievement that comes with planting a seed and watching it grow.
Quintis, the company I founded, has grown into world’s biggest producer of Indian sandalwood over the past 20 years and it continues its path of expansion.
Quintis harvested 32,000 trees from sandalwood plantations in northern Australia last year and yielded 300 tonnes of heartwood.
It was the company’s third and by far its biggest commercial harvest of sandalwood, which has been a prized and tradable commodity for more than 2000 years.
Sandalwood is the world’s most valuable tropical hardwood and sadly illegal harvesting of wild trees endangers its survival.
The Quintis plantations have created a sustainable supply of this endangered species. They cover more than 12,000 hectares across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland where the trees thrive in sometimes harsh conditions.
It wasn't easy for Quintis as a pioneer in this field. Like many agricultural ventures, it has taken years of experience to develop the most effective planting, growing, harvesting and processing methods.
Since the first trees were planted in 1999, Quintis has developed expert knowledge about the best soil types, host trees and optimum plantation management. From this knowledge and experience, the survival rates are higher, the trees grow bigger and the yield rates for heartwood and sandalwood oil are higher.
This progress is a testament to the hard work and talents of hundreds of Quintis staff, some of whom have been with the company since its humble beginnings and played key roles in Quintis' growth and evolution into the significant producer of heartwood and sandalwood oil it is today.
The heartwood is in demand in China and other markets for fine furniture, carvings and traditional Chinese medicine. It is used in religious worship in the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. The oil is a highly sought after ingredient in fragrances, cosmetics, toiletries, aromatherapy and Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine.
The demand for both heartwood and oil provides Quintis with multiple customers across wood and oil markets in India, China, US, Middle East and Europe.
There’s an agreement in place to supply oil to Young Living, the world’s biggest essential oil company, over the next five years as well as a long term supply agreement with Lush Cosmetics.
As you may have seen from recent media, I was confidentially approached at the end of March, in my personal capacity as a major shareholder, by a well-funded, credible party expressing an interest in working with me in developing an offer for Quintis.
I tendered my resignation as Managing Director of Quintis and as a director of its controlled subsidiaries to fully assess this confidential approach and any others, unencumbered by my duties as responsibilities as Managing Director.
My focus is to develop and present a credible proposal to the Quintis Board that is attractive to, and in the best interests of, all Quintis shareholders. If successful, I intend to resume my duties with the company as it continues its path of expansion.