Port Blakely is a 160-year-old, family-owned forestry company with deep roots in sustainable practices. When we launched our essential oils business in 2021, it marked a significant and unexpected departure from our day-to-day work. But we had recently introduced an initiative to surface ideas from across the company, and when a few team members brought this one forward, we knew it was time to walk the talk. We did — and it’s been a rewarding, eye-opening journey ever since.

The seeds for this story were planted – quite literally – in the 1990s. Facing increasing regulation in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and seeking to diversify, Port Blakely acquired forestry assets on New Zealand’s North and South Islands. At the time, the New Zealand government was privatizing land, divesting commercial forests, selling the trees to release capital, and returning the land to Māori communities as part of efforts to address historic treaty settlements. Alongside acquiring already established forests on the South Island, we also acquired land that had been used as sheep stations for decades. These larger areas of pastureland had been enriched by grazing and were generally clear of weeds – ideal for afforestation.

In the early years, Port Blakely launched an ambitious afforestation effort on the South Island, planting 12.5 million Douglas-fir seedlings over a period of 7 years. The Douglas-fir plantings were somewhat experimental, as the species hadn’t been widely grown in New Zealand before.

Growing trees is a slow business – our core products are logs, and they take decades to mature. Over the years, we continually checked our progress. Many Douglas-fir plantations were thriving, but others weren’t performing as hoped. Some areas of the forest weren’t forming well due to wind and other site conditions. Although harvest was still a decade away (Douglas-fir is typically harvested around the 40-year mark in New Zealand, compared to 60 years for our operations in the U.S.), we could see some stands would not produce premium-quality lumber. So, we began asking: What other value could these forests offer, especially in areas where traditional returns were limited?

To put this into the context of our company’s history, I joined Port Blakely in 2005 and became CEO in 2010. By the mid-2010s, I was leading the company through a process to define a new vision and align our core strengths with a new strategy. We had decided to exit our real estate and export businesses and double down on what we did best: sustainable forestry. But narrowing our scope didn’t mean reducing our ambition.

We wanted to be very intentional about entrepreneurial thinking, embracing a nimble and adaptable culture that had guided the company through countless changes and challenges over its long history. This meant encouraging and being open to new ideas from within, testing them, and learning fast.

My background was not in forestry, so I brought with me the opportunity to see things through fresh eyes. Fortunately, my predecessor (my cousin) supported and encouraged me to bring my own experiences and perspectives to the role and to be myself. He had led the company for over two decades and was sometimes known as the “ten zany ideas a week” guy. The team would filter these ideas and see which ones they could make work, keeping the company nimble and open to trying things. When I came in, I deliberately flipped that model: I told the team, “I’m looking to you now. You’re the experts, I’m the one learning the business. So, let’s hear your ideas.”

With fewer than 100 employees company-wide, that mindset became both a necessity and a strength. Our new vision and strategy focused on organic growth — optimizing existing forests, acquiring new forestland, and pursuing “related diversification”: expanding into adjacent, long-term opportunities that align with our assets, expertise and values.

The idea of essential oils emerged from our foresters in New Zealand, who were exploring ways to grow both forest and company value through the lens of our new vision and strategy. We had already begun actively engaging in the growing carbon market in New Zealand, which has provided many benefits (perhaps a subject of another article!), but the team was still faced with the underperforming Douglas-fir plantation and began to wonder: could the foliage itself be valuable?

Essential oil is produced by harvesting foliage biomass, steaming it, and distilling it through a condenser to create the final product. Essential oil extraction was already a niche market in New Zealand, but it was growing worldwide, presenting a promising opportunity. The team began exploratory research in 2018 and, by 2020, had developed a solid business case. From there, the project followed the classic playbook of an Evergreen® startup: internally funded and driven by the team on the ground. We assembled an ad-hoc advisory committee from the board to provide advice and input as the business plan took shape.

Once we gave the green light, the essential oils venture — now officially Port Blakely New Zealand Essential Oils — moved quickly. The team proposed, and the board approved, the building of a distillation plant directly in the forest. By the time COVID hit, the team had sourced a boiler from Georgia and equipment from Italy. Pandemic logistics slowed progress, but the project continued forward.
With experience as a natural resource, and as a raw materials supplier to forest-product manufacturers, we focused the business plan on a B2B strategy, with the goal of selling to distributors and essential oil manufacturers rather than directly to consumers. We established a distinct legal entity within Port Blakely’s New Zealand structure — designed to ensure clarity, accountability, and agility. This setup provides us with the flexibility to pivot or exit if needed, without compromising our core operations and assets.

It’s too soon to say how it will play out. But even if Port Blakely New Zealand Essential Oils never turns a significant profit — which, of course, we hope it will—it has already provided real returns: learning and development.

This project has demonstrated the value that can be returned to both individuals and the company when given the space to flourish. It’s been a way to give our people something interesting and challenging to work on. It’s an investment in talent, in curiosity, and in proving that good ideas are worth pursuing. These efforts may or may not scale, but they stand as evidence of our commitment to ensuring that Pragmatic Innovation can be a bottom-up process if nurtured, supported and prioritized from the top down. We see this as key to the People First orientation of our Evergreen company: people should have opportunities to grow and develop.

We’ve also learned some important lessons about values through this experience. Although the essential oils industry is vast, the team quickly discovered that it carries some unexpected reputational risks. Some of the most prominent players in the aromatherapy space, for example, have been subject to lawsuits or operated with multi-level marketing models that don’t align with our values. This has slowed our progress as the team finds the right partners and channels for our product. It has also challenged us to think through how we approach selling our core forest products in commodity markets. Asking tough questions is a key part of developing our people and future leaders. The nuances that arise around building a values-driven business in a world that doesn’t always play by our rules can be eye-opening, but we’re still finding ways to move forward.

This venture is still in its early stages. Sales are modest, and meaningful cash flow has yet to materialize. However, the distillation plant is operational, producing high-quality, organic, FSC® certified oil with numerous applications, ranging from aromatherapy to cosmetics to perfume. The team is in place, and market research is ongoing. This project, born of long timelines and short-term experiments, blends our century-old values with a spirit of innovation. It’s small, nimble, and full of potential — a true “skunkworks” initiative in a long-tenured legacy company with a slow-growing core product.

This story is still unfolding. Follow along at https://portblakelynzeo.com/.