When a company needs cinnamon essential oil, the most straightforward option may be to purchase it from a major commodity seller. It is quick, direct, and easy to manage.
But the simplest supply chain is not always the one that creates the most impact.
In Sri Lanka, dōTERRA works with a sourcing partner has built relationships with dozens of cinnamon collectors, all of whom are connected to a network of thousands of farmers, peelers, chippers, collectors, and small-scale distillers. It is a more complex approach, but it can create opportunities for more people—and make better use of what each cinnamon tree provides.
Sri Lanka is famous for its cinnamon quills, the curled sticks sold in spice markets around the world and highly valued in the spice industry. Producing them is a highly skilled craft, as peelers carefully remove paper-thin layers of bark from the main trunk of the tree. These layers of bark naturally curl inward as they dry, allowing the peeler to fit them together to create a cinnamon “stick.”
Not every piece of bark becomes a perfect quill. Small chips, fragments, and trimmings are left behind during the process, but these leftovers still contain valuable aromatic compounds.
The bark pieces can be collected and steam distilled to produce Cinnamon Bark essential oil. Instead of being overlooked as a by-product of the spice industry, the bark fragments become another source of value—and another potential source of income for the people who collect, prepare, and transport them.
Regional collectors may work with dozens of local chippers, including many women. Their work helps prepare the bark for distillation while creating additional employment within rural communities.
The bark is only one part of the tree’s story.
After cinnamon trees are harvested, their leaves can be collected and distilled separately to create cinnamon leaf essential oil. In Sri Lanka, much of this work takes place in small micro-distilleries located close to the growing communities.
These local operations may be run by families, women, community leaders, or farmers who rent distillation equipment and produce oil on a smaller scale. Keeping production closer to the farms reduces the need to transport bulky plant material to a distant central facility and allows more of the economic activity to remain within the growing region.
The individual cinnamon bark and cinnamon leaf supply chains are distinct, but they are closely connected. Together, they demonstrate how separate parts of the same harvest can support different people and businesses.
Cinnamon trees are generally harvested through a process called coppicing. The tree is cut near the base while its roots remain intact, encouraging several new shoots to grow for future harvests.
From there, nearly every part of the tree can serve a purpose.
The best bark becomes cinnamon quills. Smaller bark fragments can become Cinnamon Bark essential oil. Leaves can be distilled into cinnamon leaf oil. Wood left after bark removal can help fuel boilers at local micro-distilleries. Even the spent plant material remaining after distillation may be used by other local industries, including incense makers.
This does not mean that the supply chain is perfect or that every resource challenge has been solved. However, it does show what can happen when sourcing partners continually look for ways to create more value from an existing agricultural system.
Working with thousands of small producers is not as straightforward as purchasing from one large supplier. Cinnamon can move through the hands of farmers, peelers, chippers, collectors, micro-distillers, and processors before becoming the finalized essential oil.
That complexity makes relationships, transparency, and traceability especially important.
dōTERRA’s sourcing partner continues to strengthen connections throughout the supply chain by better understanding producers’ working conditions and needs, and by introducing training and equipment that can support safer practices and more consistent plant quality.
Responsible sourcing is not a finished achievement. It is an ongoing process of listening, learning, and improving.
Sri Lankan Cinnamon Bark and Cinnamon Leaf essential oil can be found in the dōTERRA On Guard® product line.
