Tea products waft their way around the world

By Yan Wanqin, Yichang International Communication Studio

In the laboratory of Yichang Tea Group's Tea Technology Center, engineers are conducting final tests on a new tea product. This new product is about to be dispatched to Morocco.

"Now that we have confirmed the quality, including the color and aroma of the brew, we will send the samples to our customers this week," said senior engineer Cao Bingbing.

Yichang Tea Group was established by Yichang-based Angel Yeast last August as a wholly owned subsidiary specializing in tea produced in the region.

The tea products exported are adjusted to the taste of target local markets.

The company has set standards for the color, appearance, taste and aroma of the tea leaves.

"We have developed two evaluation systems, one is the national standard, the other is for foreign customers. We are expecting other orders from parts of North Africa and West Africa," Cao said.

In the first half of this year, Yichang Tea Group developed and launched more than 20 new products such as tea bags, instant tea and tea concentrate, notching up sales of more than 300 million yuan (US$41 million).
 

"Our tea products were exported to 12 countries and regions in the first half of this year. In July, tea export orders totaled nearly 10 million yuan," said Fu Junhe,deputy general manager of the company's brand marketing center. 

Better use of science, technology and innovation has boosted Angel Yeast's development. To unlock new growth, it launched 120 new products in the first half of this year, including yeast products, animal and plant nutrition products and food ingredients.

This year, Angel Yeast's R&D investment will exceed 1.1 billion yuan.