New production line completes tea export industry chain
2024-07-09 15:07:30
Journalist: Jie Xingwei
Correspondent: Huang Haiyue
Translator and English Editor: Chen Zai
Yichang's tea export industry chain has been completed with the addition of a new tea blending and small packaging production line.
The production line, located at Yichang Tea Group's factory, became operational in June. It enables the group to fulfill orders from European, African, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian markets.
Correspondent: Huang Haiyue
Translator and English Editor: Chen Zai
Yichang's tea export industry chain has been completed with the addition of a new tea blending and small packaging production line.
The production line, located at Yichang Tea Group's factory, became operational in June. It enables the group to fulfill orders from European, African, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian markets.
Tea products are rolling off the production line.
At the factory of Xiaoshi Tea Industry, a subsidiary Yichang Tea Group, tea materials came out of the blending line on the second floor and were then transported via a conveyor belt to the packaging line on the third floor, where they would be packaged into 25g, 100g and 200/250g export tea products.
Tea blending, the process of combining different teas and sometimes other ingredients to create a distinct flavor profile, is primarily used for black tea, though it can also apply to other teas like Pu-erh. Commercial tea blending can achieve flavor consistency across different batches and seasons, ensuring consumers experience the same taste with each purchase. Additionally, tea leaves can be blended with herbs, fruits, and spices or scented with various aromas to enhance their flavor and aroma, resulting in "scented teas" or "flavored teas."
Yichang is the second-largest tea-producing area in Hubei Province with a total tea plantation area of 995,400 mu (66,360 hectares), producing a total of 119,200 tons in 2023. However, due to the lack of blending and small packaging capabilities, there was still a gap in production efficiency and operating costs.
Xiaoshi Tea Industry started building the blending and small packaging production line in December 2023 and completed it in June 2024. The production line has a packaging capacity of 3,000 tons per year, and can also provide OEM services for local and domestic export tea merchants.
Export tea products of Yichang Tea Group are being uploaded to trucks.
The blending and small packaging production line has boosted shipment efficiency by 30 percent and established a closed-loop system for Yichang's tea export.
