About Us

Waihi Bush was originally settled by David Musgrave's family in the 1870s when the Woodbury area was a significant source of native timber.

David's son Oliver developed serious eczema as a child which drove the founder to find a natural way to help cure him. This led him to researching the science behind the effects of flaxseed oil on health and how to produce and maintain the quality of the delicate oil.

The first flaxseed oil was pressed at Waihi Bush Organic Farm in 1992 using a tiny imported press that produced about 30 Litres of oil a day. Production continued at Waihi Bush Organic Farm until the business outgrew the 100 year old farm building in 2002.

A move into a larger premises in Geraldine the same year allowed the business to expand, and branch into other seed oils, and oil blends. David brought together the raw natural ingredients of chosen seed oils to create unique blends to add to the Waihi Bush Organic farm range. This combined all of the health benefits of each oil, providing options for your health as you grow and change.  

Waihi Bush Organic Farm continued to operate globally from Geraldine until November 2023, when it was purchased by Daryl & Debbie Prebble just up the road in Ashburton. The Prebble family were one of 7 families who founded Bio Oils New Zealand in 1987.

Bio Oils was originally founded to help produce and manufacture Export Quality Flax Seed Oil for a group of Canterbury growers, using seed grown on their farms. Overtime, the Prebble's became the sole owners of the company, but still stuck to the original ethos of growing their own flaxseed and contracting local growers (to meet demand), producing some of the worlds high quality flaxseed within the local community, exported globally. 

Your oil is grown locally, produced in the Prebble's Ashburton facility and bottled on site, still with the love, care and attention from that very first bottle David made for Oliver's eczema.