At the 70th Anniversary of the Company | Seadyke Story (Episode Two): Going abroad

• Tea for Overseas Chinese: “AT”, Chinese Tea and the Tea from Xiamen
• A Big Exporter: "Chinese Tea" selling to Japan
• An Innovation: Playing an important role in promoting Oolong Tea Beverages

 

 

 

① Tea for Overseas Chinese: “AT”, Chinese Tea and the Tea from Xiamen

 

Fujian is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese. Having one cup of the familiar taste of Fujian oolong tea would be a great recall for those Chinese far away from motherland. Seadyke “AT” series tea products with article number starting with "AT", initiated its popularity within places where the overseas Chinese always assembling .

▲ The AT103 "Red Can"

 

The history of "Tea for Overseas Chinese" can be traced back to more than 1,000 years ago.

 

In 19th century, many people from southern Fujian traveled across the ocean to make a living in Southeast Asia. From 1875 to 1880, this population leaving from Xiamen had reached more than 100,000, among which the Anxi people dominated a great share. Anxi is a well-known Fujian oolong tea producing area.

 

Pushing by the great demands, oolong tea business became booming in Southeast Asia. From 18th century to mid-19th century, the export of tea from Xiamen port had reached its peak.

 

According to data, the amount of oolong tea export from Xiamen was 118 tons in 1953, of which about half was exported to Singapore, and the rest to Thailand, the Philippines, and Myanmar.

 

In 1960, some influential tea companies in Singapore and Malaysia jointly established a company to organize the bulk oolong tea purchase from us.

▲ The early Seadyke distributors in Thailand 

 

Through these local partners, China Tea (Xiamen) had greatly developed its business. The market had extended from Southeast Asia to more than 40 countries and regions such as Europe, America, Africa, and Oceania. Starting from Tea for overseas Chinese, tea from Xiamen went for a bulk export commodity. In 1965, the oolong tea export from Xiamen port was 1,322.79 tons. Till 1980, it had risen to 1,958 tons, accounting for 73.53% of the total national tea export of that year. That is 9 times the number of 1949. The shipping destination included Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macao. 

 

Because of its limited supply, high quality and reasonable price, Seadyke teas had hit the market and were often out of stock.

▲A group photo with Malaysian distributors at a Malaysian Tea Shop in Nov. 1990

▲A group Photo at an International Fair in Kuala Lumpur in 1990

 

China Tea (Xiamen) “AT” series tea products had once represented good tea from China. The AT102 "Yellow Can" Laocong Shuixian and the AT103 "Red Can" Dahongpao were two classics and were often in short supply. These teas exported to Southeast Asia had become the "gem" of those overseas Chinese connecting their hearts with their hometowns, which in many years after, have come as "collections" placing their loves of motherland.

 

Our tea products were so popular that in 1987, some fake AT series tea products were found in Malaysian market.

▲tea products from China Tea (Xiamen) in one Malaysian Tea Store in Nov., 1990

▲tea products from China Tea (Xiamen) on shelves of one Supermarket in Sydney, Australia (Nov.,1992)

▲correspondence with our international buyers

 

 

② A Big Exporter: "Chinese Tea" selling to Japan

 

In the early days of "Seadyke", tea was exported for overseas Chinese. In 1976, we shipped some oolong tea to Japan. From 1979 onwards, for the following 30 years, the age of Chinese oolong tea had come into the Japanese market.

▲In 1976, China Tea (Xiamen) shipped the first batch of oolong tea to Japan - the contract

 

At the end of 20th century, the Japanese were keen on "British cigarettes, French wine, and Chinese tea". "Chinese tea" here referred to oolong tea exported from Xiamen, China.

 

In 1976, we had three tons of Tieguanyin K103 exported to Japan which set off a wave there of buying Chinese oolong tea. In 1979, Chinese oolong tea export rocketed to 940 tons and quadrupled to 3,690 tons in 1984. China Tea (Xiamen) had gained high reputation by its quality products and various means of marketing.

▲The 20th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-Japan oolong tea agency agreement  (1979-June 16, 1999)

 

Driven by the enthusiasms of "Chinese oolong tea" in Japanese market, we pioneered several tea making methods which improved our quality and production.

 

In addition, a specialized tea factory for processing export teas was put into production in September 1987. It was outfitted with machines for massive production. The processing lines were more automated and organized in operation. The quality of our products had been further enhanced. All of which made us equipped to meet the rapidly growing needs both in domestic and abroad.

 

According to records, oolong tea exported by China Tea (Xiamen) was 3,897 tons in 1985, accounting for 58.5% of the country's total oolong tea exports. In 1991, it had been doubled to 7,536 tons. We were ranked No.1 among national oolong tea exporters.

 

From 1985 to 1994, the export of oolong tea from Xiamen Port reached its record high again with an annual average of 5,433 tons.

 

In March 1987, China Tea and seven Japanese distributors acknowledged an "agent system" on bulk shipped Fujian oolong tea. China Tea’s representative office in Japan was authorized to handle related issues.

 

Good performance resulted in prizes and honors. China Tea (Xiamen) has been awarded several titles for many consecutive years for its great contribution as a big exporter and being a high-integrity enterprise.

▲Group photo with Japanese partners in 1994

▲A signing of an export agreement of Fujian Oolong tea with a Japanese distributor

 

③ An Innovation: Playing an important role in promoting Oolong Tea Beverages

 

Oolong tea became widely recognized and distributed in Japanese market should thank to the birth of the bottled and canned oolong tea beverages.

 

At the beginning of this "Chinese Oolong Tea Enthusiasms", people would brew it by traditional ways. While, the rapid pace of life needs some fast consuming patterns, such as turning hot drinks to cold and portable beverages. According to this trends, China Tea (Xiamen) and our local partners, together with our Japanese distributor started the research and development of the canned oolong tea beverages.

 

In February 1981, the canned Dahongpao tea drink came into being. The "Dahongpao" material was from China Tea (Xiamen). This newly developed product could be stored at room temperature for half a year without any deterioration. It soon got popularized by Japanese consumers, especially young people. Later, China Tea and the Japanese side launched the first oolong tea drink advertisement in Japan, which gained great response.

▲The opening of the first Chinese Tea Exhibition in Japan (April, 1981)

 

Later, Large beverage companies were scrambling to take part in the bottled and canned oolong tea beverages market. In 1981, the Suntory brand tea beverages accounted for 50% of the market. There were also some other brands. Oolong tea has been widely accepted by Japanese households as it’s easy to drink in hot or cold all year round.

▲ Overseas exchanges with Japanese partners

 

In 1992, the canned oolong tea sold in Japan had reached 3.12 billion cans. Which means, one would buy twenty cans of oolong tea drink yearly. During that period of time, among the family refrigerator-stored beverages list, milk ranked first and oolong tea beverages ranked the second.

 

In October 1987, a new joint-venture was supported by advanced machines and technology from Japanese customer to provide Japanese buyers oolong tea drink concentrate. China Tea (Xiamen) was in charge of oolong tea material supplies and its annual export amounted to more than US$1 million.

 

Since then, China's oolong tea export had increased rapidly. In November 1988, we held a conference coordinated by JAPIT, and signed with 16 agents the long-term  agency agreements (1989 to 1991).

▲a factory tour in Japan (April 30, 1993)

 

In 1993, Japan imported more than 19,100 tons of oolong tea and there were 15,276 tons from mainland China, 107 times of the 178 tons in 1978. At that year, Japan became the world's largest importer of oolong tea. Around 90% of Chinese oolong tea sold to Japan were used to produce canned tea beverages. This was the second wave of “oolong tea craze” in Japan, lasting for 20 to 30 years. In addition, oolong tea were developed for more uses including to produce oolong tea alcoholic beverages, or replace Green Tea with oolong tea in the “chazuke” (the most traditional Japanese cuisine).