Many remote small towns and villages face difficulties because of the aging and outflow of their populations. However, in one community in Yilan County, a different story is unfolding. Behind this new narrative is the “Oil-Seed Camellia Renaissance Program.”
In recent years, the once little-known traveler’s route through Zhaoyang Community in Yilan’s Nan’ao Township has been revealed to the general public on social media by travel lovers. Visitors can go to Zhaoyang Fishing Port, the most recently constructed fishing harbor in Taiwan, to look at the sea and buy fresh seafood. After that, they can head up the Zhaoyang Trail, which offers magnificent views of the vast Pacific Ocean. Then it’s off to a restaurant run by the Naniwa Community Development Association (Naniwa being the name of Zhaoyang in the Japanese colonial era) to indulge in seasonal seafood. A visit to this place, which takes about half a day, has even prompted some digital nomads to make a second home here.
Boosting self-sufficiency
Zhaoyang Community prospered in the era of Japanese rule thanks to the camphor industry. As the industry declined, people left the area, until this community with 500 registered households was reduced to a permanently resident population of less than 200 persons.
But this little locality in quiet decline had a lot of abandoned farmland, which became the centerpiece of new cultivation of oil-seed camellia (Camellia oleifera) by a company called Cha Tzu Tang.
Cha Tzu Tang started by manufacturing personal care products using a powder made from the camellia oil cake that is left as a by-product when camellia seeds are cold-pressed for their oil. Wood Chao, the founder and CEO of Cha Tzu Tang, wanted to ensure that all of his camellia oil-cake powder came from Taiwan, but discovered that Taiwan’s rate of self-sufficiency in camellia seeds was less than 10%.
In 2016 Chao formed a team to conduct a survey of oil-seed camellia cultivation throughout Taiwan, the results of which were published in a special issue of the periodical Fengtuzhi. The company decided to launch an Oil-Seed Camellia Renaissance Program, contracting farmers to grow oil-seed camellia so that they could ensure an adequate supply of the seeds.
Renaissance of camellia farming
They didn’t realize at the time that oil-seed camellia bushes need to mature for five years before the seeds can be harvested.
In order to build confidence among farmers, Cha Tzu Tang supplied contracted farmers with high-yield seedlings free of charge, and replaced any plants that died. In this way they raised the willingness of farmers to sign on as contract growers. During the cultivation process, agricultural experts provided advice and training in plantation management, including guidance on how to deal with problems such as water shortages or typhoon damage, thereby building farmers’ confidence in their ability to look after their camellia bushes well. Finally, the company purchased the seeds at above-market prices in order to guarantee their growers’ income.
Zhaoyang Community was one of the places selected for new planting of oil-seed camellia, with the area planted increasing from an initial five hectares in 2016 to 17.8 hectares in 2024. “It’s good for the farmers and it’s good for us,” argues Cha Tzu Tang’s director of sustainability, Sammi Chang. By drawing up contracts that seek to balance each side’s interests, one can achieve mutual benefit. Cha Tzu Tang also invited farmers who were already growing oil-seed camellia in the Bunun indigenous community of Duqpusan (Lunshan) in Hualien and at Alishan in Chiayi to become contract producers. The area of land planted under contract has steadily grown from 23 hectares in 2016 to 40.3 hectares today, with 13,760 camellia bushes, and the company is advancing towards its goal of raising Taiwan’s rate of self-sufficiency in camellia seeds to 15%.
Renaissance of sustainable agriculture
In 2016 Cha Tzu Tang received certification as a B Corporation (a for-profit business that meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability). At first they gave no thought to using the certification to promote sales, but to their surprise it attracted both like-minded people to join them as employees, and enterprises from other industries to work with them as partners. For example, Cha Tzu Tang is now among the top three suppliers by market share of many amenities for high-end hotels. Sammi Chang states that because Taiwan’s camellia seeds have market recognition, and the company uses native plants such as Taiwan incense cedar and water lily to make souvenir gift items such as plant extract products, their products have a strong Taiwanese image, making them attractive to foreign travelers. This is what is known as “the more local we are, the more international we become.”
Another important B Corporation value for Cha Tzu Tang is that they make “full use” of camellia seeds. Besides embodying the ideal of sustainable use, this policy multiplies the seeds’ economic value.
Chang explains that the first step is to hull the camellia seeds and press them to extract edible camellia oil. The second step is to use the camellia oil cake left over from the pressing process to make household cleaning products. Another use for the oil cake is to utilize chemical means to separate out an extract that is an excellent foaming agent, which can be used as a raw material for hand soaps and body washes. Cha Tzu Tang is currently also developing ways to utilize the camellia seed hulls, to further increase the seeds’ value-added.
Renaissance of Zhaoyang Community
Many of the contract farmers are in their sixties or seventies, so now that the camellia bushes have been growing for more than five years, for the annual harvest in October Cha Tzu Tang specially arranges for the work to take place on weekends or holidays so that their children and grandchildren can return home to help out. Making the harvest a family activity conveys the hope of old farmers that their business can be passed down to future generations. Meanwhile, the younger folks can perhaps consider growing oil-seed camellia as a slash job or even explore the possibility of joining the new generation of young farmers.
Cha Tzu Tang also has drawn on the ideas behind Italian olive oil estates. Italy accounts for only 10% of the world’s total production of olive oil, but its olive oil has an outstanding international reputation. The idea is to make all of Zhaoyang Community into a “camellia oil estate.”
Naniwa Community Development Association previously had a restaurant next to the fishing harbor, named Naniwa Seafood. Cha Tzu Tang brought its coordination skills into practice as well as its strengths in aesthetic design, and enlisted enterprises including Sinyi Realty and DBS Bank to fund a makeover for the restaurant, including new menus and a new sign. No one expected that it would become a well-known check-in point or that visitors would come to Nan’ao specifically to try its fresh-caught seafood and its hairtail fish in rice noodle soup. The large number of customers drawn by the restaurant has also attracted young people to return home from the city to work there.
Renaissance of camellia oil culture
“By making Zhaoyang Community a core source for our raw materials and using our expertise to empower local people, we have generated synergistic effects,” observes Sammi Chang. From contracting the cultivation of abandoned farmland and expanding the farmed acreage, to teaching various skills to young people who have returned home, their efforts have revitalized this old community in environmentally sustainable ways.
The main goal for the future is a renaissance of camellia oil culture. For example, edible camellia oil can be used for pan-frying, boiling, and stir-frying foods, can be used to dress salads, and can even be drunk as is. It has also long been part of dietary culture for celebrating holidays and birthdays, for women’s month-long postpartum recuperation, and as a tonic food.
Camellia oil culture supports other aspects of local culture, such as Naniwa Community brand carrots, rice, and coffee beans. Also, a travel map has been prepared for the community, inviting visitors to Zhaoyang Fishing Port and local hiking trails for day trips.
Cha Tzu Tang has also worked with DBS Bank to rent an old house which they refurbished to create a co-working space called Naniwa House 1. They encourage digital nomads to use it as a second-home office space or for two-day visits for workshops and learning activities. The space has even attracted companies from Germany and Japan to come and take a look.
Sammi Chang says that the plan for 2025 is to promote short local tours on the theme of Zhaoyang Community as a camellia oil estate. Meanwhile, the Oil-Seed Camellia Renaissance Program has exceeded expectations in terms of production volume, boosting tourism, and attracting local people to return home. It all starts with the land and ends with the land, as local residents implement the ideals of a “Satoumi” lifestyle that aims for positive ecological, social, and economic outcomes.
