The Next Miracle Tree: Tea Tree and Its Relatives

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Selling Tea Tree in America

During the past decade, especially since oil quality has become more consistent, melaleuca has become one of the few herb products on which entire companies base their product lines.

Melaleuca products appeared on the American market in the early 1980s, a few years before the Australian quality standard was developed. The oil and its products quickly became widely available from established distributors of medicinal herbal products as well as by direct marketing. During the past decade, especially since oil quality has become more consistent, melaleuca has become one of the few herb products on which entire companies base their product lines. The oil now abounds in every product category in which essential oils are commonly used: topical first aid preparations; medicated shampoos, hair rinses, and conditioners; toothpastes and polishes; mouthwashes and throat sprays; hand and body lotions, facial cleansers, lip balms, and sunscreens; douches, laundry soaps, perfumes—the list goes on. The mere presence of tea tree oil in these products seems to enhance their commercial value, even when the oil is listed under “other ingredients” on the label and the quantity is minute.

In 1990, a marketing company called Melaleuca, Inc., ranked 37th on Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastest-growing American private companies. Melaleuca has become big business: Australian plantations in what is now known as the Bungawalbyn Reserve are expanding rapidly, and production and demand estimates for 1998 exceed 700 metric tons.

The Next Miracle Tree

Now, a year and a half after my journey to Australia, I feel I’ve found the answers to most of my questions about tea tree and its oil. The oil is unquestionably a promising therapeutic agent because of its proven antibacterial properties, and it has shown some promise in treating numerous common, relatively minor conditions. Its safety, though not scientifically confirmed (see “The Scientific Record”, page 00), is relatively well established through long usage, and it has myriad uses in cosmetics, soaps, and other commercial products.

However, the same and more can be said of a hundred other herbs that have not enjoyed a fraction of the commercial success of tea tree oil. There seems to be something irresistible about this exotic plant that grows only in a small area of Australia. This may be the true miracle of the tea tree, and the source of the present public excitement about it: the miracle of marketing and public relations.

Might there soon be another herbal success story of this magnitude? Savvy entrepreneurs might do well to consider the American sweet gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua), whose essential oil is similar to that of the tea tree but surprisingly has not been developed commercially. A recent study—in Australia, as a matter of fact—showed that the essential oil of sweet gum leaves contains more than 30 percent terpinen-4-ol and only trace amounts of the undesirable terpenoid cineole. Move over, tea tree: make room for sweet gum oil, the miracle from America!

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