One piece of tea drives the integration of the three industries (comprehensively promoting rural revitalization)
Visiting Changsha County in Hunan Province, the tea industry is continuously expanding the chain of industrial integration and development. In 2022, the tea production in Changsha County was 42000 tons, with 80000 tons of processed dry tea. The comprehensive output value of the tea related industry reached 4.8 billion yuan.
Tea companies that grow and make tea are common, but tea companies that sell tea making machinery and equipment are rare.
Xiangfeng Tea Industry Group Co., Ltd., located in Jinjing Town, sold over 500 million yuan of tea last year, ranking among the top in the province in terms of scale; The independently developed and produced tea making equipment had a sales revenue of over 200 million yuan last year. "The tea making equipment is all customized production, and our current orders are scheduled for 2025," said Tang Chenglin, the chairman of the company.
Why do tea companies make equipment? Years ago, the company introduced fully automated production lines, where fresh leaves entered and finished tea came out, resulting in several times higher efficiency.
"As users, we have a better understanding of tea companies' demand for tea making equipment. Why not develop our own tea making equipment?" Tang Chenglin said, after several years of effort, tea making equipment manufacturing has become one of the main business segments of Xiangfeng Group. "We want to make a leaf generate more added value."
Changsha County has a long history of tea cultivation, with a tea planting belt stretching for over 100 kilometers, known as the "Hundred Mile Tea Corridor". How to keep more of the value-added benefits of tea in rural areas and for farmers?
At Jiaoyang Tea Company in Kaihui Town, the company's head Jin Zhisheng calculated the benefits of integrated development: in the past, only tea was grown and fresh leaves were sold for only a dozen yuan per kilogram. Later on, processing tea not only cultivated the brand, but also helped people process it. Our own tea has an average price of over 200 yuan per kilogram. Nowadays, promoting tea through tourism, based on the red tourism resources of Kaihui Town, and keeping more profits in the local area. This spring, the tea garden received over 30 teams, with an average direct consumption of 110 yuan per person.
Tea leads tourism, and tourism promotes tea. Jinjing Village in Jinjing Town, with 5000 acres of tea gardens stretching like a blue sea. Zhao Ling, the person in charge of Jinjing Tea Village Cultural and Tourism Development Co., Ltd., was in a hurry. She told Zhao Ling that she is a famous and capable person in Jinjing Village. Last year, she paid 400000 yuan out of her own pocket to establish the first tea cultural and tourism company in the village. Tea picking experience, tea art training, team building activities... Cultural and tourism projects are tailored to local conditions and flexible and diverse. "The integration of tea and tourism has brought popularity and earned back investment in half a year!" said Zhao Ling.
In Changsha County, promoting the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, new business entities have become the driving force. The "Gaoqiao Yinfeng" tea produced in Gaoqiao Town was once well-known. For many years, tea farmers have been playing small and fussy, with high costs and thin profits. The traditional way of growing tea has become narrower and narrower
Where is the road to breaking the deadlock? Tea garden circulation and intensive management. Bailu Village in Gaoqiao Town has introduced Hunan Xiqing Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., which focuses on the cultivation and sales of tea, vegetables, seedlings, and fruits. The company targets high-end and high-quality tea and takes a new path of comprehensive development. Last year, the tea sales exceeded 7 million yuan, and the revenue from cultural tourism and homestays was nearly 1 million yuan. Villager Xiao Duanxiang has been working in the tea garden for most of his life and now serves as the director of the company's tea factory, earning a monthly salary of 6000 yuan. "In the past, I was in a hurry to maintain the brand, but now my income is increasing. It seems that we still need to let people who understand the market do professional work."
To promote the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, it is necessary to form industrial clusters. Industrial planning, scenic area construction, and basic supporting facilities... Only by working together can we achieve results. Changsha County adheres to the overall planning of tea and tourism, transforming "production areas into scenic areas" and making "scenic areas adjacent to production areas".
Kaihui Town actively builds a boutique tourism town and a one hour red cultural and tourism circle. "'Red 'integrates' green', and 'three industries' drive' one industry '. Nowadays, when tourists mention Kaihui Town, they can think of red tea tourism," said Jin Zhisheng.
