With 50 years of grit and vision, Van Schaik’s Bio Gro has built an organics recovery powerhouse that’s now driving Australia’s soil health revolution.
The scent of fresh pine bark and sawdust is more than just a memory for Stephen Van Schaik; it’s a reminder of the foundation of what would become Bio Gro – a family business built on the transformative power of sustainability.
Situated in the picturesque Green Triangle region of South Australia, Bio Gro has grown from a disused quarry on the outskirts of Mount Gambier to four strategic sites across South Australia and Victoria.
Fifty years on, the company is celebrating a major milestone.
Humble beginnings
The story of Bio Gro is rooted in the earth-moving expertise of Stephen’s parents, Hans and Marjan Van Schaik, who established J.A. and M.J. Van Schaik Earth Moving Contractors in the mid-1970s.
Hans, drawing on his Dutch heritage and experience, saw potential in the waste products generated by timber mills in South Australia. Pine bark, sawdust, and wood chip – materials once destined to be buried in landfills or simply burnt – became the building blocks of a new vision.
Hans purchased a small 12-acre property with a disused quarry near Wandilo, just five kilometres north of Mount Gambier. There, he began stockpiling and experimenting with timber mill waste, transforming it into valuable growing media, landscape barks, and mulches.
The family lived on-site, with Stephen and his brother operating loaders and screens after school or on weekends, unknowingly laying the groundwork for their future careers. Stephen made the decision to leave school at the age of 15. Uncertain about his future career path he chose to focus on what he already knew – working for his father at the Wandilo site. This marked the beginning of his full-time involvement in the family business.
“Work life was pretty straightforward for me back then,” Stephen reflects on those early days. “I could step right out of our front door, hop into a front-end loader, and start producing growing media and landscape bark ready for sale.
“Meanwhile, Dad would head off on his backhoe to handle the earthworks for our earthmoving customers.”
The family business was a team effort. Stephen’s mother played a vital role, managing phone calls and bookkeeping for both sides of the operation – the earthmoving services and the organic recycling business.
“It was your typical husband-and-wife family business,” Stephen says highlighting the close-knit nature of their work.
A defining moment
The turning point for the Van Schaik family came in 1985, when the Kimberly-Clark paper mill near Mount Gambier sought a sustainable solution for managing its wastepaper pulp.
Stephen says winning the tender to recycle 150 tonnes of pulp per day was a pivotal moment that forced the family to make a bold decision: focus entirely on organics recycling or continue with the earth-moving business.
The Kimberly-Clark contract provided the financial stability needed to invest in advanced composting infrastructure and had the potential to propel the business into a new era of organics resource recovery.
“As a family we were at a crossroads of having to decide which path we were going to take forward – a stable earthmoving business or taking a risk on the organics recycling business,” says Stephen.
The family made a bold decision to sell the earthmoving business and channel all their energy into organics recycling. This decision, Stephen says, marked a defining moment for Van Schaik’s Organic Soils and Bark Supplies, now known as Van Schaik’s Bio Gro.
Family legacy secured
Through the ’90s the company experienced rapid growth, and in 1995 the decision was made to bring in two independent shareholders to help support that growth.
Stephen says the decision proved successful, enabling the company to expand its footprint into Victoria through the acquisition of The Austrian Potting Mix Company and Pro Pine, both reputable growing media businesses.
He says it was through these strategic acquisitions that Bio Gro became a leading supplier of custom blended growing media for large-scale commercial nurseries across Victoria.
Managing growth in any business has challenges, particularly in family business. A profound challenge for Bio Gro came in 2013 when Stephen’s brother decided to leave the family business and his father was recovering from a serious health issue.
Stephen, his wife Heather, and his parents were faced with a difficult decision, continue to run the business or sell it?
Taking a leap of faith, Stephen and Heather secured finance for the company to purchase Stephen’s brother’s share and committed to returning the company once again into a fully family-owned and operated business.
In 2016 the last of the independent shareholders had been bought out and Bio Gro was once again 100 per cent family-owned.
“This still stands today as my proudest moment working in Bio Gro,” Stephen says.
Sustainability powerhouse
Today, Bio Gro operates across four strategic sites – Wandilo and Mount Gambier in South Australia, and Dandenong and Newbridge in Victoria – with a team of 220 employees.
The company recovers more than 470,000 tonnes of organic material annually, including 200,000 tonnes of timber and forest residues and 270,000 tonnes of food and green organics.
These raw materials are transformed into about 850,000 cubic metres of high-quality growing media, mulches, and composts, supplied in bulk and packaged forms. In the past financial year alone, Bio Gro produced more than six million bags, and with a newly commissioned packaging plant at the Newbridge facility, the company now has the capacity to produce more than 10 million bags annually.
“Bio Gro has been recognised now for many decades as the producers of the highest quality custom blended growing media for the industry, recognition that sits proudly with our company,” Stephen says.
Soil health revolution
Bio Gro is leading a transformative shift in agriculture by championing the use of compost to enhance soil health and reduce dependence on synthetic fertilisers.
“In agriculture, if your soil is in poor health, then you are on the back foot from the start, and your productivity is obviously going to struggle,” says Stephen.
“By integrating high-quality compost into traditional fertiliser regimes, Bio Gro empowers farmers to boost microbial activity, improve nutrient uptake, and enhance productivity – all while cutting back on synthetic inputs.”
Stephen believes that the agricultural market is now ripe for change, marking a significant evolution for Bio Gro.
Although the company ventured into agronomy 15 years ago, the market was not ready for compost at the time. Today, however, the landscape has shifted dramatically.
“We see the Ag market as a very real and emerging market for us now. If you like, it’s all about the timing,” he says.
“A lot has changed in the past 15 years. Now it’s moving even faster, with a new generation of farmers coming through that measure and record productivity daily.
“Modern farmers are increasingly prioritising soil health over expanding land or relying heavily on synthetic inputs.”
He says Bio Gro’s innovative approach is paving the way for a soil health revolution, helping farmers achieve sustainable productivity while reducing their environmental footprint.
The spirit of research and development (R&D), first embodied by Hans, has also been re-established. After a period of focusing resources on business growth, Bio Go has formally re-established a small R&D team.
Stephen says this team is essential for ensuring the company remains at the forefront of the organics sector, especially as it delves deeper into the science required to prove the measurable benefits of applied compost in the agricultural sector.
Legacy of excellence
The company’s longevity and success are a testament to the family’s consistent application of two simple yet powerful traits: humility and hard work.
Stephen believes people are at the heart of Bio Gro’s success and has developed several initiatives, including a ‘people and culture’ division focusing on staff development and mentorship.
Fostering a sense of community and care has resulted in a remarkable number of long-serving employees with tenures over 30 years.
Stephen himself is known around the company for his personal engagement with staff across all sites and he is not averse to jumping into a loader or excavator to lend a hand when things are busy.
“I like to think that we’re quite humble as a family,” he says. “Dad was one of the humblest men you’d ever meet and one of the hardest-working men you’d ever meet.
“He’d be proud of what we have achieved, for sure.”
Those achievements have not gone unnoticed. In 2017, the company was inducted into the Family Business Australia Hall of Fame for South Australia/Northern Territory, and both Hans and Stephen have received prestigious individual awards for their industry contributions, highlighting the successful generational transition and the family’s commitment to excellence.
Hans was honoured with the Australian World Forestry Day Award in 2000, while Stephen was recently named a Green Triangle Forest Industry Legend.
Australian ingenuity
As Bio Gro celebrates its 50th anniversary, the Van Schaik family is focused on the future. With Stephen and Heather’s children now heavily involved in the business, the third generation is ensuring the family connection remains the company’s core strength.
From a weekend hobby to an industry leader, Bio Gro’s journey is an example of how determination, innovation, and family unity can turn challenges into opportunities.
As Bio Gro continues to set new benchmarks for sustainability and innovation, Stephen hopes it offers a beacon of hope for businesses looking to make a positive impact.
“With a legacy rooted in hard work and a vision for a greener future, Bio Gro proves that the best ideas truly grow from the ground up.”
For more information, visit: www.biogro.com.au
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