He Lingnan: The trend of tea drinking in the tea industry is becoming younger, and new tea drinks and traditional tea drinks complement each other

Text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Sun Qiman

Photo/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Chen Qiuming

March On the 22nd, the Guangzhou International Consumption Center City Construction Dialogue and the founding ceremony of the tea industry and water industry think tanks were held in Yangcheng Creative Park. At the event, He Lingnan, associate professor of the School of Communication and Design of Sun Yat-sen University and deputy director of the Guangdong Key Laboratory of Public Opinion Big Data Analysis and Simulation, delivered a keynote speech on “Big Data Boosts the Green and High-Quality Development of the Tea Industry”.

He Lingnan, Associate Professor, School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-sen University, Deputy Director of Guangdong Key Laboratory of Public Opinion Big Data Analysis and Simulation

Modern digital technology promotes the innovative development of the tea industry

China is a big tea country, and tea is an important agricultural characteristic industry in my country. According to public data, China’s tea planting area accounts for about 62% of the world’s total tea planting area, ranking first in the world. On February 28, 2022, the 2021 National Economic and Social Development Statistical Bulletin showed that my country’s tea output will be 3.18 million tons, an increase of 8.3%.

In terms of making the tea industry bigger and stronger, in recent years, top-level design bonuses in the tea industry have been frequently issued. On February 5, 2021, the China Tea Circulation Association’s “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of China’s Tea Industry” was officially released. In May of the same year, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) jointly released the “China Carbon Neutral Tea Production Report”. In September of the same year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Tea Industry”.

“With the support of policies, my country’s profound tea drinking culture and the sustained and rapid development of the economy have injected new impetus into the development of the tea industry.” He Lingnan pointed out that in this context, modern digital technology has also promoted With the innovative development of the tea industry, big data helps the scientific dissemination of tea culture, new tea drinks lead the new trend of the tea industry, and the development of tea technology promotes the deep integration of the industry.

New tea drinks and traditional tea drinks complement each other

Nowadays, with the new generation of consumers becoming a new force in consumption, the tea industry will also usher in a new development trend. In his speech, He Lingnan pointed out that, unlike in the past, the proportion of males and females in the online sales of tea in China is basically the same, and female users are on the rise. At the same time, the proportion of “post-90s” and “post-80s” users has increased, and the trend of younger tea drinking is prominent.

Why do young people drink tea? He Lingnan pointed out that drinking tea has gradually become a part of many modern people’s lives. According to the 2021 survey data, the main reasons for Chinese consumers to drink tea are relaxation (28%), living habits (19%), and health care (19%). %) and refreshment (15%).

With the change of consumer groups, has the “C position” in the tea market changed? He Lingnan pointed out that according to the preference of Chinese consumers to buy tea online in 2021, green tea and black tea are still the two most commonly consumed tea categories. With the improvement of netizens’ awareness of health preservation, the popularity of tea categories such as health tea has increased.

In addition, He Lingnan emphasized that under the background of consumption upgrading in the new tea drinking era, consumers have higher requirements for product quality, emphasizing the use of natural raw materials, strengthening social attributes, the rise of quality and personalized demand, and the rise of new tea drinks. Complementary with traditional tea.