Riding on the wave of the RTD (ready-to-drink) herbal tea beverages

Last night we received a box of cans with herbal tea from friends, a RTD tea composed with 10 herbs including among others licorice, elsholtzia, mint and pu erh tea, manufactured by Yunnan Datang Hanfang Pharmacy. The herbal tea is suitable for soothing lungs and throat during summertime.

The RTD herbal tea market in China has been traditional and a little "old-fashioned" until few years ago with two major brands 王老吉 Wanglaoji (WLJ) and "JDB" (加多寶; Jiaduobao) dominating the market.

WLJ was originally founded in 1828 with a herbal tea invention by Dr. Wong Chat Bong in Guangzhou. JDB was founded in 1995. Both brands have been closely related since a long time and had fierce lawsuits on trade names and branding in the past.

In recent years though, we see new trendy RTD herbal tea brands popping up in China with various health functionalities.

Even Coca-Cola has tapped into the market this year with a RTD herbal infusion beverage under brand name 夏枯草 or 'Self-Heal Spike' with principle herb Prunella vulgaris, also called "common self-heal" or heal-all" plant. Other herbs in the drink are monk fruit, licorice, and pagoda tree flower buds. The Heal-All" herb is known for its analgesic, cooling and antibacterial benefits, reducing blood viscosity and improving blood circulation.

The RTD herbal tea market, space for healthy growth in China... and beyond...

The herbal tea which we received last night are my healthy summer coolers in coming week as the family concluded that the taste is truly and too intense (herbal) medicinal 😂... my cup (can) of tea haha

#herbaltea #naturalhealth #chinesemarket #chineseconsumers #tea