How we work: profile of CongJun Gan
Lora Liu
CongJun Gan works with about 1,200 farmers across a local area of 60,000 acres to bring them together in order to derive an income from their camellia harvests. Born and raised in (find the name) a small farming village, CongJun learned his skills working the hillsides of the Xinxian forests and from his studies at (college). He is also dedicated to preserving the natural habitat of the camellia trees working on a project to hand-clear invasive species that overcrowd the camellias.
CongJun’s local farmers still collect and dry the hard-shelled seeds on their roof tops, along the roadway and on their family courtyard patios. Before Lingrui and ShanCha, the farmers would hand-press the dry seeds to produce camellia oil for their own consumption then sell some in the local farmers’s markets or to consolidators, but the work was grueling and the results weren’t always free of imperfections. Now CongJun encourages farmers to bring their camellia seeds to the new small-batch cold press in XinXian. This cold press produces a finer, purer oil than what they could achieve in their homes and it is providing farm families with a greater cash income that ever before possible.
