One of a series of reports on "A cup of herbal tea 'brews' billions of industries" Bozhou herbal tea "full net" fragrance

The just-concluded fifth party congress of the city clearly pointed out that it is necessary to "promote the standardized development of the herbal tea industry", which has brought new opportunities for the development of the herbal tea industry in Bozhou. With the approaching of "Double Eleven" in 2021, the herbal tea industry in Bozhou, which is in the peak season of herbal tea sales, has begun to gear up again to meet the growing challenge of "exploding orders".

According to the "2020 List of Gold Medal Projects of Express Service Modern Agriculture" published by the State Post Administration, Bozhou herbal tea ranks second, and it ranks as the top three "net red" along with Suqian flowers and trees and Guangxi snail powder. In that year, more than 70 million pieces of Bozhou herbal tea were delivered by express delivery throughout the year, and the online transaction volume alone reached 2 billion yuan. In 2020, the city's herbal tea industry will achieve an output value of about 3.7 billion yuan, accounting for more than "half of the country".

From the budding buds in the past to the fragrant "full net" now, how can a cup of herbal tea nourish an industry worth billions of dollars, help the construction of the "World Capital of Traditional Chinese Medicine", and promote the high-quality development of the modern Chinese medicine industry in Bozhou? Where did the Bozhou herbal tea industry come from and where will it go? This newspaper will launch a series of reports on Bozhou's herbal tea industry observation - "a cup of herbal tea 'brews' billions of industries" to find out.

Exhibitors at the 1st China Bozhou Health and Health Commodities Herbal Tea Exhibition (file picture)                                           Photo by Zhang Yanlin

"Hello everyone! Today I will introduce you to several herbal tea products. Our No. 1 link is..." October is the peak season for herbal tea sales, and the herbal tea anchors are busy with live streaming.

As the capital of Chinese medicine, the largest distribution center of traditional Chinese medicinal materials in the country, and the place where the "Local Standard for Substitute Tea in Anhui Province" was formulated, Bozhou has a long history of herbal tea development. In recent years, the scale of herbal tea industry is growing in Bozhou. Statistics from the municipal postal management department show that in 2018, the number of pieces of herbal tea in Bozhou was 27 million, and in 2020, it reached more than 70 million. It is expected to exceed 100 million pieces this year.

Exhibitors at the 1st China Bozhou Health and Health Commodities Herbal Tea Exhibition (file picture)                                           Photo by Zhang Yanlin

On the Internet: Herbal tea is getting more and more "fragrant"

"Look at our rosehip tea, which contains 8 kinds of raw materials such as rose, lily, chrysanthemum, and wolfberry. The raw materials are hand-selected and made with modern technology to maintain the anthocyanin content to the greatest extent. The flower shape is full, delicious and sweet. It's very suitable for sending friends, sending girlfriends..."

"There are 20 tea bags in this big box, and each bag is less than a yuan."

"Place an order today and send it today, and it will arrive at your home in three days."

……

On September 8, 2021, the first China Bozhou Health and Wellness Commodity Herbal Tea Exhibition opened. This is also the Bozhou Pharmaceutical Expo that has lasted for 37 years and developed from the Pharmaceutical Fair. It is the first time to set up a separate herbal tea exhibition. At the exhibition site, apart from the hundreds of herbal teas on the booth, the most eye-catching thing is that many live broadcasters are bringing the goods live.

"I have bought it online many times before, and it tastes very good. Many of my friends like it." Li Yong, a businessman from Shanghai, bought a few bags on the spot. "There are chrysanthemum cassia seed tea, burdock lotus leaf tea, corn silk mulberry leaf tea, etc., all of which are relatively affordable."

According to the "2020 List of Gold Medal Projects of Express Service Modern Agriculture" released by the State Post Administration, Bozhou herbal tea ranks second, and it ranks as the top three "net red" along with Suqian flowers and trees and Guangxi snail powder. In 2020, Bozhou City was awarded the title of "Authentic Origin of Herbal Tea" by Tmall. According to the 2020 municipal government work report, the online transaction volume of Bozhou herbal tea alone reached 2 billion yuan last year.

"When we first started making herbal tea eight years ago, there were only dozens of online orders every day. At present, we have more than 10 stores on platforms such as Pinduoduo and Douyin, and we receive an average of more than 5,000 online orders per day." Chen Si, operation director of Bozhou Bencao Fangtang Beverage Co., Ltd., said that the company achieved sales of more than 60 million yuan last year and is expected to exceed 80 million yuan this year.

Zhang Xijun, president of Bozhou Herbal Tea Industry Chamber of Commerce, introduced that herbal tea is also called flower and fruit tea. In 2020, the city's herbal tea industry will achieve an output value of about 3.7 billion yuan, and the national output value will be about 7 billion yuan, accounting for more than "half of the country".

Anchor with goods: more and more orders

In the office of Anhui Xuanwu Network Technology Co., Ltd. in the E-commerce Park of Qiaocheng District, Bozhou City, the reporter saw that the layout here is very simple. There is a shelf against the wall, and there are different herbal tea products on the shelf.

"The company does not store a large number of products, but only some product samples for live broadcast. After the customer places an order, we customize the product to the manufacturer according to the order, provide the delivery address, and the goods are sent directly from the manufacturer." General Manager Lu Zhenwei said.

Lu Zhenwei used to work in e-commerce sales in Suzhou. After seeing the business opportunities of the herbal tea industry in Bozhou, he returned to his hometown in 2018 to establish Xuanwu Company, mainly engaged in one-stop operation of short video live broadcast e-commerce, live broadcast with goods to sell health herbal tea and other products. At present, the company has 12 anchors and 35 employees, and the annual live broadcast brings more than 10 million yuan.

The anchor Chang Beibei came to work at Xuanwu Company after graduating from university. With two years of live broadcast experience, she is very familiar with the company's business. The monthly live broadcast sales can reach more than 800,000 yuan, and her personal performance income can reach up to 70,000 yuan per month. "The key to doing live broadcasting is to do it with heart. First of all, it must be genuine and win the support of the audience with integrity." Chang Beibei said.

Ru Zibao, general manager of Bozhou "Internet +" Entrepreneurship Demonstration Park Operation Co., Ltd., told reporters that, as the dream building community of Bozhou "Internet +" Entrepreneurial Demonstration Park, there are currently 167 e-commerce companies (4 cross-border e-commerce companies), of which 90% are herbal tea e-commerce. "At present, there are more than 30 e-commerce companies with annual sales of more than 5 million yuan in Zhumeng Community, and more than 40 with annual sales of more than 3 million yuan."

In addition to Zhumeng Community and Qiaocheng E-commerce Industrial Park, there are also herbal tea e-commerce gathering places such as Kangmei E-commerce Center and Bozhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Commodity Trading Center. The agglomeration effect of the e-commerce industry and the brand effect of Bozhou herbal tea are becoming increasingly prominent.

Processing companies: production is getting busier

On October 12, workers were busy packing fragrant herbal tea in the packaging workshop of Bozhou Zhonghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd., which is located in the herbal tea incubation base in Qiaocheng District. In the sound of the automatic baler, the packaging of the loquat Luohanguo fat sea tea was completed, and then the workers packed the small packets of herbal tea.

"This loquat Luohanguo fat sea tea was less than 100 orders per day some time ago, and now the number of orders received per day exceeds 1,000 orders." Lu Dazheng, manager of Bozhou Zhonghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd., said happily. Now has entered the peak season of herbal tea sales. Some of the company's single products have exploded, and the most obvious one is Loquat Luo Han Guo Fat Sea Tea.

"Especially when Double Eleven is approaching, the company has made a production overtime plan and is going all out to prepare for more upcoming orders." Lu Dazheng said.

The popularity of Bozhou herbal tea on the Internet has also driven the development of upstream production enterprises.

The herbal tea incubation base in Qiaocheng District, established in May 2016, has now settled in 97 herbal tea production enterprises, of which 86 are officially put into production, providing employment for 3,680 people.

According to He Zhikui, a second-level researcher of the Municipal Economic and Information Bureau, the herbal tea production enterprises in our city are mainly concentrated in Bozhou High-tech Zone, Bowu Modern Industrial Park and Qiaocheng Economic and Technological Development Zone, Huatuo Town, Wuma Town, Yanji Town and Weigang Town and other townships are also distributed.

According to Zhang Xijun, there are currently about 60,000 employees in the herbal tea industry in the city, of which more than 10,000 are engaged in online sales.

Courier companies: warehouses are getting bigger and bigger

Di~di~di... On October 15th, the Bozhou branch of Shentong Express was full of traffic, and trucks filled with herbal tea were ready to go. In the sorting workshop, workers are busy moving, scanning and sorting the mountains of express delivery, and placing the express delivery to different provinces in different areas.

"Five years ago, the company's shipment volume was about 100,000 pieces per month on average. In the past three years, the company's business volume has doubled." Xia Hongzhen, manager of Shentong Express Bozhou Branch, told reporters. In 2018, more than 500,000 units were shipped per month, and by 2020, it will reach 1.1 million units per month. More than 90% of these couriers are herbal tea products, and most of them are sent to North, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, South China, East China and other regions. "Last year, the company shipped more than 14 million orders, and in the first eight months of this year, it reached more than 11 million orders, which is close to the number of last year."

What makes Xia Hongzhen very happy is that the rapid growth of the herbal tea industry in Bozhou has driven the continuous growth of the express delivery company. The company's workforce has increased from less than 30 three years ago to more than 200 now. In addition, the company has also expanded a new plant, which covers an area of 6,000 square meters, more than double the current plant. "It's not just our company, the five large express delivery companies are all growing."

"'Double Eleven' is coming soon. Our existing warehouse is definitely not enough. We plan to put into use a new plant before the 'Double Eleven'." Xia Hongzhen said that the new plant is also equipped with an automatic sorting line, which will fine-tune the express delivery. This will greatly improve work efficiency and provide better service guarantee for the export of Bozhou herbal tea.

Liu Hucheng, director of the Office of the Municipal Postal Administration, told reporters: In 2018, the number of pieces of herbal tea in Bozhou was 27 million. In 2020, it reached more than 70 million pieces, and this year it is expected to reach 100 million pieces. "The postal department has launched service modes such as express delivery to the village, express cooperation, and express electricity cooperation to ensure the timely shipment of Bozhou herbal tea."

"The prosperity of the herbal tea industry not only drives planting, production, e-commerce, express logistics, etc., but also drives the development of plastic bottles, packaging, printing and other industries. It has become a new engine for high-quality development in Bozhou." He Zhikui said.

(Ru Ping Li Dong)

Editor: Hu Jinxin