When the Felton-Taylor family decided to stop growing wheat in 1990 and invest in the jojoba industry instead, there were many sleepless nights.
The decision for the Goondiwindi based family has, however, paid off with the company now exporting jojoba oils and developing their own line of natural skin cleansers, shampoo and balms.
Their aptly titled Jojoba Natural brand has gone from strength to strength since that initial gamble back in 1990.
“Making the move from wheat to jojoba was a real gamble for our family,” Mrs Felton-Taylor said.
“We’d decided to stop growing wheat on our mixed use property so an agronomist and our accountant put together a prospectus on jojoba.
“It sounded good – a desert plant with seed that stored well and we could use with our existing farming equipment.
Making the move from wheat to jojoba was a real gamble for our family.
- Judy Felton-Taylor
“The move wasn’t without risk though. There was a large investment required initially to seed a sizeable volume of plants and the plants are aren’t commercially productive for at least 5 years.”
Fast-forward 20 years and jojoba is now the main income stream for the family property.
The golden liquid extracted from the jojoba plant is similar in constitution to sebum in human skin with superior skin moisturising capabilities.
In recent years, the beauty and cosmetics industry has driven growth for Jojoba oil and this has seen the export market also open up to the Felton-Taylor family.
“The demand for jojoba has definitely surpassed our expectations with the expanding natural cosmetic industry responding really well to our products,” Mrs Felton-Taylor said.
“We’ve been lucky enough to have the export market open up for us but our main sales are still from within Australia and our skin care line is gaining in popularity too.”
Jojoba Natural will be at Toowoomba’s Bush Christmas Exhibition in December where shoppers can sample and buy from their oil and skincare range.
The Bush Christmas Exhibition will take place daily at 58 Neil St, Toowoomba between 2 and 11 December. Admission is free.
For further information, visit www.bushchristmas.com
