Cambodia & Initiative: HathKal Lab, a 100% Cambodian Essential Oils Laboratory
- Partenaire Presse
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Cambodian Reaksmey Chhorpon achieved a dream that once seemed impossible. She wanted to become a scientist. Today, as founder of HathKal Lab, she uses chemical engineering to turn Cambodian crops into a range of pure essential oils.
Lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, and turmeric essential oils are just a few of the products she makes, creating job opportunities for Cambodian farmers while advancing Cambodia's profile in chemical engineering and food technology on the international stage.
Chhorpon graduated in chemical engineering and food technology from the Institute of Technology of Cambodia in 2016 and received a scholarship to study in the United States, before founding her lab in 2018.
"A lot of people around me said Khmer products were poor quality and that we probably couldn't pull this off. To silence the naysayers, I built the lab with my own money," the 28-year-old founder told our partners at the Post.
The young chemist had observed that Cambodian products were of very good quality, but thought it would be difficult to add value to them. For her, one of the main problems facing agriculture in Cambodia came down to this: "some products have too narrow a market and sell for too little."
"So now, not only am I doing something I love, but I'm trying to find an answer to a bigger problem — finding markets for my products," she says.
While she had heard of the famous Kampot pepper, which has achieved worldwide recognition, she wasn't sure about the quality of the Kingdom's other agricultural products.
"When I started doing my own research, I discovered that Cambodian soil is really fertile. Khmer products are really good and unique, and the quality of my oils reflects that," she says.
Years of Planning
Chhorpon had very little capital available, and it took her three or four years before she could make a product ready for market. She had to gather data across different provinces to determine which regions — and which seasons — would give her the yields she needed to produce her oils:
"It took me a long time to do my research. I now produce 11 kinds of oil, but those are only the ones that made it through the whole process — I explored many other options. At first I focused on research, then I started buying equipment and seeking recognition from the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation."
With a logo combining Khmer martial arts and creative science, the company's name comes from the Khmer words “Hath” and “Kal,” meaning “new hands” and “unique,” respectively.
"I hope that when these products are one day exported around the world, people will recognize they belong to Cambodia just by looking at the name and the logo," adds Chhorpon.
Today, HathKal Lab sells 10-milliliter bottles of oil priced between $10 (lemongrass) and $30 (lime). It also sells various massage oils.
"Cambodia imports a lot of oils — but most are fragrance oils, which aren't pure. My oils are pure and of very good quality," she says.
"When people ask me if we can compete with imported essential oils, I can say yes. I'm talking about high-quality essential oils, not cut-rate fragrance oils," she adds.
Most customers buy these oils to scent their homes, use them as massage oil, or blend them into cosmetic products.
"During the Covid-19 lockdown period, I received a lot of orders," she notes.
The Advantage of Oil
Some of these oils are used the same way as the plants they come from. Many customers buy oils made from food plants, such as rice paddy herb or lime, because the plants themselves are expensive and hard to find abroad. "A bunch of herbs might cost one or two dollars, but a bottle of oil contains the essence of 20 kg of herbs and can be kept for a long time," she explains.
Most herbs take a month to plant and harvest, and once picked, they wilt within days. After years of experimentation, her oils now have a shelf life of at least two years.
"That means the oils are far more practical than the fresh alternative. I take products that don't keep well and turn them into something I can sell year-round," she adds.
Rice paddy herb and lime essential oils are the hardest to produce, but they're unique to HathKal — no one else in Cambodia makes them:
"For me, kaffir lime is like gold — it's hard to find. On top of that, we need large quantities. I have to buy at least 100 kg to produce my oil," she says.
"Most of the time, I sell them to fund my research. So far, most of my customers are Cambodian. I want to secure the local market before expanding abroad," adds Chhorpon.
HathKal Lab has received support from USAID Cambodia through the Women in Tech Network, UNIDO, and UNDP Cambodia.
A website has been set up for online orders, in addition to sales through social media. The oils are also available at Chip Mong Mall and Plus Pharmacy.
Future Dreams
HathKal Lab's ambition isn't limited to producing essential oils. Its next step will include producing teas and soaps in different scents and flavors.
"We started with essential oils because they're the key to creating countless other agro-industrial products. They serve as flavorings, fragrances, and preservatives for cosmetics and food. They can also work as pain relievers," says the young entrepreneur, adding:
"I want to create a natural cosmetics lab where people can customize products however they like. For example, they might want a skin cream scented with kaffir lime."
HathKal Lab buys agricultural products from around a hundred families across ten different regions of the country. Although the company is still young, it believes its lab is having a positive impact on the farming community:
"We need to make our entrepreneurs strong, so there's a better market for our farmers — then we can start adding more value to the agricultural chain. My ambition is to process agricultural products from every province to create more work for farmers. It sounds ambitious, but it's the path I'm on," she says.
Reaksmey Chhorpon encourages the younger generation to think big and pursue science and engineering to help grow the sector:
"Practical skills are very valuable for entrepreneurs in Cambodia. It's an agricultural country with a lot of potential, but what we lack are the scientific skills to develop these products and bring them to market. When we start producing high-value-added goods locally, we won't just add value to our farmers' products — we'll raise the profile of the whole Kingdom," she concludes.
Pan Simala, with our partner The Phnom Penh Post
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