“Last month some men in gumboots took a helicopter out to Sawpit Gully near Queenstown to process invasive trees into a highly sought-after product that could solve an environmental threat.

The product? Pine oil.

Wilding & Co, run by Michael Sly, Mathurin Molgat and Dave Turnbull, was founded with the aim of producing pine oil and byproducts by harvesting wild pines.

The firm is on the cusp of a global business breakthrough, leapfrogging traditional business models as the industry embraces the idea of using an abundant resource – invasive pine trees – that needs eradicating.”

– By John Edens, 10 Sept 2014

Read the full article on the Southland Times website

“Driven by millions of unwanted pine trees, some of the best quality pine oil in the world, and a pressing need to raise $1.5 million to buy commercial scale distilling equipment to handle a massive boost in demand, three Queenstown entrepreneurs have taken their social enterprise idea to the international South by South West (SXSW) Eco pitch competition – and have reached the final eight in the world.”

– By Nikki Mandow, September 15, 2014

Read the full article on Idealog’s blog

Want to know a bit more about us? Check out the TV3 news article this weekend. Wilding & Co has piqued the interest of this gun news team. They came, they saw, they filmed—and got a taste of it all at Wilding HQ in Queenstown.

Learn more about Wilding & Co and our mission to protect the environment through beautifully sustainable natural products.

Watch as we distill wilding pines into essential oil (play now on TV3).

Wilding & Co has been selected as a finalist in the Social Impact: For-Profit category for SXSW Eco’s entrepreneurial pitch competition.

The Startup Showcase, takes place on October 6-7, 2014 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX. The Startup Showcase, now in its third year, is a rapid-fire pitch competition spotlighting innovative early stage companies in the areas of greentech, cleanweb and social impact.

Finalists in these categories were selected out of a pool of hundreds of applicants from around the world and will compete at SXSW Eco in front of a live audience and panel of Judges from companies the likes of Target, Shell Technology Ventures, the Whole Planet Foundation, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Sprint.

In the past two years, participating companies have gone on to raise over $27M in funding and acquire global brands as clients.

Download the press release

“Sly and Molgat—who’ve formed Wilding & Co with Queenstown-raised Dave Turnbull—say they have so far spent more than $200,000 developing their oil. Their equipment includes a semi-mobile still and a steam distillery unit.”

“If every tourist who came to town washed their hands with Wilding & Co soap, every tourist is effectively paying to help clear the pines and going home with an amazing message.”

Read the articles now

Queenstowners make dollars from scents, by Philip Chandler, 24 Apr 2014

Queenstown trio turn pine pest into perfume, by Philip Chandler, 24 Apr 2014