Our Story

In 1852, an enthusiastic young pharmacist named Joseph Bosisto began championing the medicinal properties of Australia’s native eucalypts.   He opened his first ‘still’ in Dandenong Creek Victoria to bottle this golden oil, advertising its remarkable powers for everything from coughs to indigestion.

Our Story
Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Oil

Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Oil quickly became a global phenomenon and was Australia’s first indigenous export product, sold all around the world.

Today, it’s still a staple in family homes and one thing hasn’t changed in all those years: we’re still a champion for eucalypts. Eucalyptus runs in the blood of our company’s owners, the Abbott family, brand custodians for the past 45 years. Two generations of Abbotts have nurtured Bosisto’s eucalyptus plantations at Inglewood Victoria, now grown to almost 10,000 acres.

Bosisto's farm is home to our vast Eucalypt plantations and distillery - which builds on our research and development into optimising the yield from Blue Mallees, native to the local area. Bosisto's continues to invest in the future of local oil production in Australia.

But we’re more than just eucalyptus. 

With a huge range of essential oils, cleaning, laundry and aromatherapy and personal care, Bosisto’s is about health and wellbeing: helping replace harmful chemicals in your home so your family can live a more natural life.


The history
of Bosisto's

  1. 1788
  2. 1789
  3. 1848
  4. 1850
  5. 1852
  6. 1865
  7. 1882
  8. 1885
  9. 1891
  10. 1892
  11. 1900
  12. 1939
  13. 1950
  14. 1974
  15. 1987
  16. 2000
  17. 2005
  18. 2006
  19. 2007
  20. 2012
  21. 2017
  22. 2018
  23. 2019
  24. Today

  1. 1788

    Surgeon-General John White arrives on the First Fleet; he notes in his diary the presence of ‘olfactory oil’ in the native eucalyptus.

  2. 1789

    A quart of oil distilled from the so-called “Sydney Peppermint”, Eucalyptus piperita Sm., is sent back for testing in England. It is, according to reports, “much more efficacious in removing all colicky complaints than the English Peppermint…. less pungent and more aromatic.” Despite this flurry of official interest nothing much is done with it for the next several decades.

  3. 1848

    Yorkshire pharmacist Joseph Bosisto arrives in Adelaide aged 21. He moves to Victoria in search of gold but instead opens a pharmacy in Richmond, where he builds a lab specifically to investigate the medical and pharmaceutical properties of Australian plants.

  4. 1850

    Joseph strikes up a friendship with Government Botanist Baron Ferdiand von Meuller, a founder of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Victoria. The Baron is an avid fan of the eucalypt and encourages Joseph to investigate its medicinal properties and manufacture it commercially.

  5. 1852

    Bosisto opens Australia’s first commercial distillery, at Dandenong Creek in Victoria, followed by others at Emerald, Menzies Creek and Macclesfield. He begins selling the oil locally.

  6. 1865

    Businessmen Alfred Felton and Frederick Grimwade see the possibilities of the trade and their firm, Felton Grimwade & Co. become the distributors of Bosisto’s “Oil of Eucalyptus”. They form a new firm, the Eucalyptus Mallee Company and purchase Antwerp Station near Dimboola, Victoria, full of low-growing Mallee eucalypts perfect for cropping.

  7. 1882

    By June 1882, 40 pounds of oil had been produced for export to England and Germany.

  8. 1885

    The Antwerp Company was merged with Bosisto’s original business and a firm called J. Bosisto and Co. was formed.

  9. 1891

    Bosisto’s Oil of Eucalyptus is the darling of the international exhibition circuit, awarded prizes in 17 international exhibitions.

  10. 1892

    A elaborate new label was produced as well as a thousand circulars attesting to the powerful properties of oil of eucalyptus for “arts, manfactures, medicine and sanitary purposes”. Popular Bosisto’s products of the time included asthma cigarettes (with or without tobacco) and Syrup of Red Gum for ‘bowel complaints’.

  11. 1900

    By the turn of the century Australia’s eucalyptus oil industry was well established and supplying the world market – including the UK, Germany, USA, Canada, South Africa, India, China, New Zealand and the Far East - with substantial quantities of various high grade oils.

  12. 1939

    World War II arrives, and with it, a new work standard. The ‘old breed’ of eucalyptus workers – old bushmen and victims of the gold mining bust - make way for a younger generation with designs on a different way of life. They will no longer accept low wages and poor living conditions and this greatly increases labour costs.

  13. 1950

    The cost of producing eucalyptus oil in Australia had spiked so much that the oil could no longer compete against Spanish and Portugese oils. Advances in machinery and technology means wheat becomes more profitable as Australia’s eucalyptus industry, which dominated internationally for 80 years, regresses.

  14. 1974

    Current owners the Abbott family purchases the company Felton Grimwade & Bosisto and a new era for eucalyptus oil begins.

  15. 1987

    Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Spray is introduced. Pure essential oil in a spray can, it revolutionises eucalyptus oil use in Aussie homes, making it easier and more convenient for cleaning, laundry and freshening.

  16. 2000

    Bosisto’s begins collaborating with the Melbourne University School of Botany on a unique eucalypt breeding program (the ‘Super Trees’ project), with the aim of radically increasing eucalyptus oil production in Australia.

  17. 2005

    Bosisto’s launches Tea Tree and Lavender Essential oils, complementing its growing range of eucalyptus-based products.

  18. 2006

    The Eucalyptus Distillery Museum opens in Inglewood, Victoria – a unique tourist attraction in the heart of Bosisto’s Eucalyptus country.

  19. 2007

    Bosisto’s Laundry Powder hits supermarket shelves – including Bosisto’s famous antibacterial Eucalyptus Oil, it remains popular to this day.

  20. 2012

    The first harvest of Bosisto’s ‘Super Trees’. Today there are almost 10,000 hectares planted at Bosisto’s eucalypt farm in Inglewood, Victoria. Bosisto’s also celebrates its 160th anniversary.

  21. 2017

    Expansion into the Cleaning category with ready-to-use Multi-Purpose, Bathroom & Floor Cleaners: all with the natural cleaning power of Bosisto’s Eucalyptus Oil.

  22. 2018

    An exciting year as the brand moves into Aromatherapy: first Aroma Mists and diffuser oils in grocery, followed by the Australian Native Botanicals range of oils, mists and roll-ons.

  23. 2019

    Bosisto’s introduces Personal care – Hand and Body Wash - to its ever-expanding range.

  24. Today

    Bosisto’s now produces more than 60 individual products, ranging from cleaning and laundry, to health, aromatherapy and personal care, with the aim of helping families “live a healthier and more natural life”.

Did you know?

Mechanical harvesting hasn’t been around as long as you’d think – horse and cart was still being used as late as 1974!

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A New Beginning

The Australian industry has declined by about dramatically over the last 60 years. Australia once supplied 100 per cent of the world requirements whereas we now contribute only a fraction of the total. 

This is a situation Bosisto’s is working to reverse. Over the past two decades FGB have invested significant time, passion, energy and finances into a large scale agriculture project in conjunction with the Botany Department of Melbourne University. Years of research has culminated in enhancing the yield from our Blue Mallee eucalypts - native to the local area - so that we can substantially increase local production for today to ensure wide-scale production will once more see Australia as a leading worldwide producer. The first plantings for Bosisto's eucalypt plantations began in 2011 and now over 4.5 million trees have been planted to date. It’s a new beginning and a new hope for our once-great industry, a part of the history of every Australian.

Eucalyptus oil uses:

Cough & Cold: Eucalyptus oil is a unique natural product with antiseptic properties. Most popular as an inhalant, to help ease nasal congestion, it is also an active ingredient in cough lozenges, throat sprays, drops or gargles.

Personal Hygiene: Medicinal eucalyptus oils and eucalyptol are used in mouth washes, toothpastes, balms and ointments and soaps.

Muscle Aches: Used widely by athletes and physiotherapists for decades to ease muscular aches and pains. commonly included in liniments and sprays.

Laundry: With cleaning and deodorising properties, eucalyptus is terrific for freshening clothes, in particular for soft and fluffy woollens.

Antiseptics: Eucalyptus oil is commonly used in antiseptics and and household disinfectants due to its clean, fresh fragrance and ability to kill bacteria.

Always read the label and follow the directions for use.