According to relevant media reports: Currently, China's entire herbal tea industry has surpassed a market scale of 30 billion RMB, accounting for about 7% of the entire beverage market. Wang Laoji and Jia Duo Bao alone hold ninety percent of the entire herbal tea market share. In 2006, herbal tea sales exceeded Coca-Cola's sales in China for the first time with an outstanding achievement of 4 million tons, becoming a leader in the beverage industry, which is truly gratifying.
The competition between the two parties in the market has become intense. Jia Duo Bao successfully secured the first broadcast position in the first time slot right after CCTV's 'News Broadcast' and exclusively sponsored CCTV's 'Let's Talk,' obtaining advertising slots during World Cup live broadcasts. The advertising cost nearly 200 million RMB. Meanwhile, Wang Laoji, after continuing to hold the prime position in the fourth unit after CCTV's 'News Broadcast' for 55 million RMB, renewed its exclusive naming rights for CCTV's 'Open the Door of Success' and also secured advertising slots during the World Cup, similarly paying a considerable price.
On January 10, 2014, the trial of Wang Laoji versus Jia Duo Bao for unfair advertising competition opened in Changsha. The trial result will be announced after the holiday. While spending heavily on advertising, both parties are also engaging in high-profile lawsuits, which has become a unique competitive pattern in the entire herbal tea industry. Jian Aihua, a food industry researcher at China Investment Advisors, believes that this marketing approach is unfavorable for the development of the entire herbal tea industry.
Herbal tea has a long history, with many historical allusions and folk legends circulating in Lingnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and overseas. In Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, ubiquitous herbal tea shops demonstrate the lasting expansion power and unique, profound cultural connotations of herbal tea as a herbal plant-based beverage. Guangdong herbal tea is representative of herbal tea culture. Herbal tea can not only eliminate summer heat from the human body but also treat ailments like throat pain caused by winter dryness. Besides clearing heat and detoxifying, herbal tea can also remove dampness, promote fluid production, clear fire, improve eyesight, reduce nodules, and diminish swelling. It can also treat bloodshot eyes, headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, boils, abscesses, and high blood pressure. In summer, it can completely serve as a cool drink, thus possessing incomparable advantages over other beverages.
There are no less than several dozen brands of herbal tea: Jia Duo Bao, Wang Laoji, Ba Wang Liang Cha, Huang Zhen Long, Huo Tou, Huang Zhi Qiang, He Qi Zheng, Ban Lan Hua Liang Cha, Bai Yun Shan, Xia Huo Wang, An Fang Liang Cha, Jian Bo Liang Cha, Yi Pi Guan, Pan Gao Shou, Shang Qing Yin, Shun Pai, Zhi Zhong He, Chen Li Ji, Jin Hu Lu, Deng Lao, Qing Xin Tang, Xing Lin Chun, Ping An Tang, Qing Ku, etc.
According to the different effects of herbal tea, broadly defined herbal tea can be divided into four categories: Heat-clearing and Detoxifying Tea, Cold-relieving Tea, Heat-clearing and Moistening Dryness Tea, and Heat-clearing and Dampness-resolving Tea, suitable for different seasons and different groups of people. Herbal tea is composed of various Chinese herbs, and the formulas vary. For example, Jia Duo Bao's formula includes: Licorice Root, Prunella Spike, Honeysuckle, Chrysanthemum, Microcos Leaf, Frangipani Flower, Mesona Chinensis, White Sugar; whereas Run Xin Tang's formula mainly includes: Prunella Spike, Honeysuckle, Lotus Leaf, Mulberry Leaf, Honey, Licorice Root; Wang Laoji's formula is particularly unique: Rough-leaved Holly, Lophatherum, Virgate Citrus, Helicteres Angustifolia, Microcos Leaf, Lygodium Japonicum, Cherokee Rose Root, Oroxylum Indicum, Lysimachia Christinae, Knotweed.
Of course, since herbal tea contains Chinese medicinal ingredients, attention must be paid to individual suitability and careful selection. It should not be taken as medicine, nor should it be taken long-term as a health supplement.
Nowadays, every summer, herbal tea has become an important choice for the public as a heat-relieving drink. Therefore, whether from the perspective of industrial development, cultural heritage, or that of ordinary consumers, we hope that Wang Laoji and Jia Duo Bao can proceed smoothly, living up to the original intention of Mr. Wang Zebang when he founded the herbal tea Wang Laoji over 100 years ago.