Squeezing every last drop to perform "green magic", this fruit from Hema Village goes from the dining table to the dressing table

Zebra Consumer Chen Biting

After a 13-month "pregnancy," the camellia fruits in Ruyuan County, Shaoguan, Guangdong, finally ushered in the harvest season in mid-to-late November.

At the factory of Baohua Agricultural Science in Ruyuan County, production lines are running at full capacity to prepare for the upcoming peak sales season of camellia oil during the Spring Festival.

Since partnering with Hema in 2019, Baohua Agricultural Science has achieved over 5-fold growth in organic camellia oil sales, becoming a leading enterprise in China's camellia oil industry.

This year, Hema and Baohua Agricultural Science jointly developed a series of personal care products using organic camellia oil as the base ingredient, extending camellia oil from the dining table to the dressing table and opening up new sales scenarios.

Camellia fruits are treasures in every part, but their current comprehensive utilization rate is only 10%. From edible oil to skincare base oil, this is just a small step in enhancing the value of camellia oil but a big leap in the comprehensive utilization of camellia fruits.

From Niche to Mainstream

Located in Daqiao Town, Ruyuan County, an hour's drive from downtown Shaoguan, Baohua Agricultural Science's organic camellia oil plantation sits on high-altitude mountains.

This area lies at 25 degrees north latitude, internationally as the "Golden Climate Ecological Zone," giving rise to the "Golden Oil-Producing Zone."

Guangdong's only snowfalls occur in Shaoguan, Shaoguan's only snowfalls occur in Ruyuan, and Ruyuan's only snowfalls occur in Daqiao Town. The unique geographical location provides ample sunlight and significant day-night temperature differences, creating a special microclimate ideal for camellia tree growth.

In 2009, Baohua Agricultural Science established itself here, focusing on the camellia industry. Today, it has built nearly 40,000 mu (about 2,667 hectares) of camellia plantations in Ruyuan.

Camellia is a unique woody oil species in China. Camellia oil contains no cholesterol, is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and produces little smoke, making it the healthiest edible oil for Chinese kitchens. However, compared to other edible oils, camellia oil is relatively expensive and was once exclusive to a small group of high-end users.

Additionally, due to the long cultivation cycle of camellia trees—taking 5 to 8 years from planting to high-yield periods—and their mountainous growth environment, planting and harvesting are challenging. High investment, slow returns, and unstable sales channels have long constrained industry development.

Hema needed to provide users with better products, and Baohua Agricultural Science needed better sales channels for camellia oil. In 2019, the two parties reached a strategic partnership and officially established a Hema Village in 2022.

Within just a few years, Hema has become Baohua Agricultural Science's largest client, helping the company rise to the top of China's camellia oil industry.

Yuan Lijian, President of Baohua Agricultural Science, stated that after partnering with Hema, the company gained a steadily growing sales channel, with annual compound sales growth exceeding 60%, strengthening confidence in further developing the industrial chain.

From the perspective of Xu Ziyang, Hema's edible oil R&D and procurement manager, launching organic camellia oil was just the beginning. Creating products that meet consumer demand is the key to unlocking the market for camellia oil.

However, innovation in edible oils is not easy. Xu Ziyang admitted that he previously focused on condiments and instant foods, always able to "come up with something fun and popular." After shifting to edible oils, he also hopes to bring fresh experiences to consumers.

"Most innovations in edible oils revolve around nutritional content, processing techniques, or packaging. The first two require high R&D and equipment costs, with significant risks that small and medium-sized factories can hardly afford. We decided to start with packaging and application scenarios to make changes more aligned with modern lifestyles." This year, Hema and Baohua Agricultural Science launched spray-packaged camellia oil with a redesigned nozzle for easier dosage control, meeting modern households' "less oil, controlled oil" needs and better suiting new kitchen appliances like air fryers and ovens.

This year, Hema's organic camellia oil product sales grew by over 40% year-on-year. Once a niche product, camellia oil is now reaching more mainstream consumers' dining tables through Hema's channels.

From Dining Table to Dressing Table

On December 9, Baohua Agricultural Science's skincare base oil was exported to the EU, and the shipment of base oil for Hema's camellia flower oil personal care series marked a deeper step for the company in the camellia oil industry.

Camellia oil is rich in oleic acid, vitamin E, and squalene, with a structure similar to human sebum and excellent skin affinity, making it a high-quality skincare oil. This aligns perfectly with the modern personal care market's trends of "oil-based skincare" and "natural ingredients," turning camellia oil into a base ingredient for many premium skincare products.

In fact, years ago, Baohua Agricultural Science began researching camellia oil for skincare but took some detours due to a lack of cosmetics industry experience. Despite this, the company never stopped R&D and experimentation on the raw material front.

Hema's department store and personal care procurement team noticed the trend of camellia oil in the personal care market and, through Xu Ziyang's introduction, connected with Baohua Agricultural Science.

In 2025, the first batch of body lotions, hand creams, and other products using Ruyuan organic camellia oil as the base ingredient officially launched on Hema's platform. Lip balms, hair serums, and makeup removers in the same series are also under development. Hema maximizes the value of camellia flowers and fruits through "multi-purpose use of a single fruit."

Yuan Lijian stated that the success of Baohua Agricultural Science's collaboration with Hema in skincare products opened a new sales channel for camellia oil, achieving a scenario expansion "from dining table to dressing table" and unlocking greater market potential.

From 10% to "Squeezing Every Drop"

Every part of the camellia fruit is valuable, but the current comprehensive utilization rate is only 10%. For example, the fruit shells, accounting for 75% of the camellia fruit, have high fiber content and have long been underutilized.

In the past, Baohua Agricultural Science could only sell them to biofuel companies at 600 yuan/ton but had to bear a 600 yuan/ton transportation cost, effectively giving them away for free. Yuan Lijian once shared an amusing yet frustrating story with the media: In 2022, the factory was piled with discarded camellia fruit shells. During the rainy season, to quickly dispose of this "waste," they had to give it away for free.

To address the utilization of camellia fruit shells, Baohua Agricultural Science collaborated with research institutes to develop cat litter products combining pet market demand and camellia's disinfectant properties. The product received positive market feedback, generating 1,500 yuan per ton and further extending the industrial chain.

Yuan Lijian explained that the collaboration between Baohua Agricultural Science and Hema is not just a simple producer-retailer relationship but a co-creation of products, channels, and brands. As the partnership deepens, the company's "company + base + farmers + technology" model for the camellia oil industry chain has been further solidified. Hema's sales-end data feedback drives upgrades in R&D, production, and planting, promoting the comprehensive utilization of "the life of camellia" and ultimately achieving "squeezing every drop" from a single camellia fruit.

It's hard to imagine that Baohua Agricultural Science's camellia plantation in Daqiao Town was once a severely rocky and barren mountain. After over a decade of camellia cultivation, the rocky mountain has transformed into lush "gold and silver mountains."

Through the camellia oil industry, Baohua Agricultural Science has boosted production and income for over 8,000 local farmers, with average household income increasing by more than 20%. It has preliminarily painted a new agricultural production landscape and explored new dimensions and paths for integrating primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.