Wei You, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation and Secretary-General of the Tea Industry Branch, released the report.
On January 1, 2025, the National Early Tea Conference and the first picking event of “Guizhou Green Tea” for 2025 were grandly held at the Shuicheng Chunhongjing Base in Shuicheng District, Liupanshui City, Guizhou Province. The conference was guided by the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation, organized by the Guizhou Tea Association, and undertaken by Guizhou Shuicheng Agriculture (Group) Co., Ltd.
This conference not only unveiled the curtain on the early spring picking of “Guizhou Green Tea” but also released the highly anticipated “2024 National Tea Regional Public Brand Influence Index Report,” providing a scientific guide for the high-quality development of brand building in tea-producing areas.
1
Authoritative Index Reveals Brand Competitiveness
The “2024 National Tea Regional Public Brand Influence Index Report” was jointly prepared by the Tea Industry Branch of the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation, the Brand Development and Research Center of the Food Science and Research Institute of China Agricultural Research, and the Tea Integration Development Research Institute of the Chinaagri University.
During the application period, a total of 112 tea regional public brands applied independently, with 104 brands meeting the requirements. Based on self-reported data, publicly available information online, and professional expert judgment, the final comprehensive 2024 National Tea Regional Public Brand Influence Index was derived.
The report evaluates the influence of national tea regional public brands across six major dimensions: industry development, market performance, brand building, quality promotion, internet communication, and e-commerce sales. It comprehensively demonstrates the overall performance and market competitiveness of China’s tea regional public brands.
The report shows that brands such as Fuding White Tea, Xinyang Maojian, Anhua Dark Tea, Anxi Tieguanyin, and Fenghuang Dancong have significant influence, demonstrating their excellent performance in quality and market.
Among them, Fuding White Tea achieved a comprehensive score of 932, with its excellent brand management and market expansion capabilities serving as an industry model; Xinyang Maojian earned 927.5 points thanks to its high quality and deep brand culture; Anhua Dark Tea scored 924.5 due to stable consumer demand and continuous brand innovation; meanwhile, Anxi Tieguanyin and Fenghuang Dancong consolidated their strong positions in niche markets with their unique flavors and precise market positioning, earning high scores of 919.5 and 898, respectively.
The report also specifically points out that the combination of internet communication and e-commerce sales is bringing new growth momentum to tea brands. Through multi-platform promotion, Fuding White Tea and Fenghuang Dancong have established deep brand awareness among young consumer groups, further driving the growth of online sales.
2
Brands from Multiple Provinces Advancing Together
The report reveals that national tea regional public brands are forming a diversified competitive landscape, with provinces such as Fujian, Guizhou, Hubei, Anhui, and Hunan becoming important forces in brand development.
Fujian Province demonstrates its diversified brand landscape: brands such as Fuding White Tea, Anxi Tieguanyin, and Wuyishan Da Hong Pao rely on deep cultural foundations and superior product quality to maintain leading positions in the industry.
Guizhou Province continues to lead a brand development model that emphasizes both ecology and quality, with representative brands Meitan Cuiya and Duyun Maojian scoring 802.5 and 791.5 points respectively to make the list, becoming important forces in the green tea market and successfully constructing a development model centered on ecology and quality.
Hubei Province has achieved coordinated development across multiple tea types, from green tea to dark tea, through an all-around layout of its brand system. Brands such as Enshi Yulu and Lichuan Hong, while maintaining traditional advantages, are actively embracing e-commerce and digital marketing, further enhancing their market influence.
3
Brand Empowerment: Government and Enterprises Jointly Promoting Industrial Upgrading
The rise of brands is inseparable from government policy support and corporate market innovation. Through the implementation of brand management systems, the improvement of standardization levels, and participation in national tea events, provinces such as Fujian, Guizhou, and Hubei have effectively promoted the rapid development of regional brands. Meanwhile, enterprises continue to strengthen brand competitiveness through industry chain integration and innovative marketing strategies.
The report points out that the dual driving force of internet communication and e-commerce sales is becoming an important driver for brand growth. Traditional brands continue to lead through stable market performance, while emerging brands are rising rapidly through innovative promotion and precise marketing, injecting new vitality into the industry.
4
Looking to the Future from the Report: Branding Driving High-Quality Development of the Tea Industry
Wei You, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation and Secretary-General of the Tea Industry Branch, stated when releasing the report that branding is the key path for the tea industry to achieve high-scale development. The “2024 National Tea Regional Public Brand Influence Index Report” not only provides a clear report card for the industry but also points out the future direction of development for production area governments and enterprises.
Production area governments can optimize policy support through the data in the report to further enhance the market competitiveness of regional brands; enterprises can adjust brand strategies in conjunction with market demand to continuously drive brand value growth.
5
Dual Empowerment of Culture and Market
In addition to the index release, several procurement and signing ceremonies were held during the conference, facilitating strategic cooperation between multiple distributors and Guizhou tea enterprises. These collaborations will further broaden the market channels for local brands and inject new momentum into the economic development of tea-producing areas.
Furthermore, activities such as “tea around the hearth” and tea art performances showcased the profound depth of Chinese tea culture, imbuing brands with more cultural value and emotional connection, creating a unique experience for consumers.
2024 National Tea Regional Public Brand Influence Index
Weekly Perspective
Opposing “Involutionary” Competition with Practical Action
● Chief Commentator of this Newspaper, Zhao Guanghui
The tea industry is becoming increasingly “involutionary”! This is a shared sentiment among industry professionals in recent years.
Having seen the news regarding “Early Tea,” many will likely say: if the time were just one day earlier, this “Early Tea” would have been in 2024; does this make it “Early Tea” or “Late Tea”? Fortunately, they were very prudent—choosing the first day of 2025 ensures that this “First Picking” is truly well-deserved and unshakeable.
If you want to compete in this way, then you must choose between the morning, noon, or afternoon of New Year’s Day 2025 to compete. If this “involution” continues, other early tea production areas will announce—”We are even earlier! Our first picking began in the early hours of New Year’s Day!”
If not regulated, who can say such a thing is impossible?
The Central Economic Work Conference held last month explicitly proposed comprehensively rectifying “involutionary” competition. This follows the July Politburo meeting’s call to “strengthen industry self-discipline and prevent ‘involutionary’ vicious competition,” once again saying “no” to “involutionary” competition.
“Involutionary” competition manifests in all walks of life. For example, in the e-commerce industry, there is a one-sided pursuit of low prices, even reaching an irrational level where “price diverges from value.” In the tea industry, there are various forms of involution, with the one-sided pursuit of being “early” being one such manifestation. Therefore, the National Early Tea Conference and the 2025 “Guizhou Green Tea” First Picking event held on New Year’s Day 2025 not only showcased the elegance of early tea but, more importantly, provided a scientific guide for high-quality brand building in tea areas and a scientific framework for various production areas to enhance competitiveness according to their local conditions through the “2024 National Tea Regional Public Brand Influence Index Report.”
The professional value of this report goes without saying; it evaluates tea regional public brands across six dimensions: industry development, market performance, brand building, quality promotion, internet communication, and e-commerce sales. More importantly, on the national platform of the “National Early Tea Conference,” it uses a multi-dimensional, three-dimensional system to tell the industry: the high-quality development of the tea industry cannot rely solely on a “single-line attack” based on agricultural or environmental advantages; instead, it must involve coordinated development across all dimensions—industry, product, brand, consumption, and market. This is true sustainable development and rational competition. If we continue to rely on just one or two dimensions for “aggressive competition” or “fighting out of spite”—such as only pursuing being “early,” only pursuing a “tea mountain,” only pursuing “ancient trees,” or only pursuing “value appreciation through aging”—these are all forms of “involutionary” vicious competition that the tea industry must resolably oppose and abandon in the future.
From this perspective, the “2024 National Tea Regional Public Brand Influence Index Report” is not only constructive in its theme and structure, but its timing can also be described as “hitting the mark.” If one can interpret the “hidden meaning” of the organizers and the report compilers, it will undoubtedly yield “extra benefits” for the tea industry.
Produced by: China Cooperation Times · Tea Weekly All-Media
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Author: Lam Sam (LamSam), the Old Tea Head
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