Facts and Questions
If you’re ready- you can go ahead and buy trees on our website today.
Once you purchase your trees (upfront or with a monthly investment), we will confirm your purchase via email and you trees will be planted in our next round of planting.
Within 4 weeks of planting, you will receive notification of the successful planting of your trees and a digital copy of your certificate of ownership along with a photographic record.
If you need a little time to think things through, register your email on our mailing list and we will send you some important information.
Our trees can be bought upfront for £350, or paid for monthly for the small sum of £2 until maturity.
Our planting schedule runs every quarter. This ensures that our operations remain cost effective, allowing us to plant in larger groups.
The schedules are (roughly) February, May, August and November, with allowances for weather disruptions and waiting for optimal conditions.
When you purchase your trees, you will join in on the next round of planting and we will keep you informed via email in every step of the process.
To balance the cost of investing in sandalwood trees with the time it takes to grow a tree of great value, we will be harvesting our trees after 15 years. Sandalwood trees grow slowly and the longer you leave them the bigger the heartwood, which is the valuable centre that holds the oil.
There is no minimum order if you purchase your trees upfront. If you are investing monthly, we require a minimum of 5 trees per order.
We do have limited acreage for our Sandalwood trees so please get in touch to discuss large volume investments and we will do our best to accommodate.
We absolutely understand that you need to trust us if we are to look after your investment. That’s why we’ve done everything we can to ensure the safety of our trees.
Our land in Fiji is officially leased through the TLTB, which means that there is no chance that anyone else can claim ownership for a minimum of 30 years.
Each tree is officially recorded by the Fiji Forestry department and you will be given photographic evidence and an official ownership certificate.
On a personal level, we promise to be as transparent as possible in every aspect of our farming and you’re welcome to follow our blog where we will share much of that, follow us on social media, or get in touch via email and we will answer any questions you might have at any time. We understand that this is a long term relationship, so let’s stay connected.
On top of this, of course you are welcome to come along at any time to visit your trees in person. In fact, you’d be very welcome with full Fijian hospitality!
Your fee covers your full 15 years of tree care, management and land rental, plus sourcing the end buyer and harvesting right through to money in your bank.
On top of our general running costs we also give back to the local community which is in great need of development. We bring jobs and infrastructure to the area and are improving peoples lives in a tangible way.
You can follow the progress of this on our blog.
Yes! We can add the name of your chosen recipient to the certificates and once your trees are harvested, you can send the final sale fee to any nominated account.
Nature has a way of being unpredictable and that’s why we have contingencies in place, which include growing additional trees to cover any loses. Just like any investment though, there is an element of risk involved so please consider if this is something you are willing to accept.
At any time you may change your mind and sell your tree back to us. Contact us for a price.
If, however, you decide to stop paying your monthly fee, you forfeit the ownership of your trees to back to us (Take Roots LTD).
You must ensure that you keep us informed of your contact information.
If we cannot make payment to your nominated account or contact you upon your trees maturity, you may forfeit your ownership to us (Take Roots LTD).
We have contact with buyers within Fiji and other nations and we will continue to work to get the best price for your trees. All you have to do is sit back and wait for your final payment.
The great thing about your investment is that our trees will be harvested in large groups, so you will be getting a great volume price for your tree (sharing logging and transportation costs at the final sale).
Just like any investment, there is a risk and we cannot guarantee the future markets but we are confident in a good return after extensive research.
We have priced our trees on the lower end to keep our trees affordable and to ensure a profit even if the market does fall.
Climate change is unpredictable, but we do feel confident that we are well placed to withstand major changes.
The Sandalwood trees will be able to cope well with an increase in temperature should that happen (and currently thrive in climates slightly warmer than Fiji).
Our farm is situated in an area high above sea level and we are also protecting our young trees with boxes to minimise any damage from storms.
We take 5% commission, which includes the cost of sourcing a buyer(s), harvesting and exporting. After that, all the profits are yours so if the market does increase by a large margin- you get more money in return.
Fiji is a small nation, a place where everyone knows everyone! It’s extremely hard to get away with something like that, especially on a large scale.
We are also boxing in our trees to protect them and will have CCTV set up.
Lastly, – we have built our house within sight of the trees and the people we trust (many whom are family) to work on the land also live around the area.
No! Same price for the duration.
We have a blog where we will be documenting our progress as a farm and in the community. On an individual level we aim to send annual updates on the progress of your individual trees.
We’ve been asked this a lot. There is no ‘catch’ other than the usual risk of investing in a long term market.
This business started as a means of helping people save- and we genuinely want to make that a reality. Most of our customers are family and friends, so we want to make this as accessible and successful as possible.