In recent years, Duyun City has thoroughly implemented the important instructions of President Xi Jinping on “promoting the Duyun Maojian Brand” and the concept of integrating tea culture, tea industry, and tea technology (the “three teas”). By focusing on Duyun Maojian as its core industry, the city has adopted a comprehensive approach that includes year-round harvesting, full utilization of the tea plant, and development of the entire industrial chain. This approach focuses on infrastructure construction, cultivation of market entities, marketing strategies, and brand promotion. As a result, sales and the reputation of Duyun Maojian tea have steadily increased each year.
Strengthening Production Foundations and Enhancing Raw Materials
Focusing on key tea-producing areas such as Tuan Mountain, Snail Shell Mountain, Doupeng Mountain, and Guilan Mountain, a total of 50,000 mu of tea gardens have been designated. The city has integrated efforts from various levels of government, enterprises, and farmers to rehabilitate neglected tea gardens, replant in aging tea gardens, and improve those already in production. A total of 71,600 mu of tea gardens have been managed, leading to a significant increase in tea yield year after year. Based on the principle of connecting points and maximizing service radius, 35 tea industry roads totaling 76.22 kilometers have been built. Support has been provided for 14 companies to construct 43 cold storage units with a combined volume of 5,826 cubic meters. Enterprises like Baimang Gaozhai and the Maojian Group have been guided to implement full cold-chain transportation, increasing the cold storage capacity for fresh tea leaves to 700 tons, ensuring their quality. A tea traceability and supervision platform has been established, with 31,000 traceability codes issued to 17 tea companies, enabling quality control throughout the process from tea garden to teacup, firmly upholding the standard of “clean tea.”
Capturing Market Entities and Improving Production
With leading enterprises at the core, the city has attracted companies from outside the province, nurtured local enterprises, and formed industrial alliances. A sharing mechanism for orders, brands, projects, and processing capabilities has been adopted, guiding 55 enterprises to collaborate. Currently, there are 378 tea enterprises (cooperatives) in the city, 55 of which have passed SC certification, and 79 have been authorized to use the “Duyun Maojian” trademark. There are also 55 standardized Duyun Maojian stores. Comprehensive inspections and integration of tea production lines have been conducted, clearing and consolidating four low-yield and inefficient production lines while constructing seven new ones. The city now has 96 tea production lines, with an annual processing capacity exceeding 20,400 tons. Efforts have been made to achieve breakthroughs in “intangible cultural heritage tea,” “premium tea,” “summer and autumn tea,” and “derivative tea,” diversifying product structures beyond single-processed green tea to include Black Tea, White Tea, tea bags, and pre-prepared dishes. Training for “Duyun Maojian technicians” has been strengthened, with 311 individuals obtaining qualifications as tea makers, tea artists, and tea evaluators. Eighty “Duyun Maojian making skills” intangible cultural heritage inheritors have been cultivated, including three Chinese Tea masters and national-level inheritors. Through the “master-apprentice” model, over 80,000 people in the city have been engaged in the production and processing of premium tea.
Stabilizing Sales Channels and Refining Products
Focusing on offline, online, and export channels simultaneously, enterprises have been encouraged to form “production-supply-sales” consortia, strengthening division of labor and cooperation across different stages. Local tea enterprises have actively collaborated with strong tea enterprises from other provinces, developing various tea products and pre-prepared dishes. These products are sold through various forms such as contract manufacturing and co-branded products, achieving annual sales of more than 8,000 tons of tea. Seventy-five enterprises have set up online flagship and franchise stores on platforms like Taobao and Douyin, conducting live-streamed sales events at an average frequency of 50 sessions per week, with annual online sales reaching over 500 tons. Export-registered tea bases covering 27,300 mu have been established. Leveraging local enterprises with export qualifications, bulk tea and border trade tea are produced in collaboration with domestic dealers, expanding international and domestic bulk tea markets. Annual export volumes reach over 2,000 tons, with exports to countries such as Morocco, Mali, and Uzbekistan.
Grasping Publicity and Promotion to Enhance the Brand
Using tea-related events as a platform, activities such as the Spring Tea Harvest Festival, production and sales announcement conferences, and intangible cultural heritage skill displays have been held. Enterprises have participated in promotional activities outside the province, continuously enhancing the reputation of the “World Intangible Cultural Heritage,” “China Time-Honored Brand,” and “China Famous Trademark” labels. Tourism routes like “Cloudy Tea Sea,” “Red Lustrous Tuan Mountain,” and “Tea Charm Eastern Duyun” have been developed, along with the “One Tea, One Wine, One Feast” Duyun Maojian brand banquet. The study book “Top Ten Famous Chinese Teas Series – Duyun Maojian Tea” has been compiled. The brand effect and value of Duyun Maojian tea continue to rise, reaching 4.9 billion yuan in 2023.
Author: Xie Fang