Marketing channel of Tea

After picking fresh tea leaves, tea growers have two options: selling the leaves
directly or selling Bought leaf factories. As processed tea is more expensive than fresh
leaves, to get more profit, skilled tea growers tend to process tea themselves and sell the
remaining fresh leaves to primary Bought leaf factories or corporate factories.

There are mainly three distribution channels that turn fresh leaves picked by tea growers
into finished tea.

Channel I. Tea growers sell fine tea leaves they handpicked to corporate factories which
process the leaves into tea and then sell it to auctions or dealers. Through wholesale and
retail the tea is sold to tea store, teahouse, supermarket and other stores, and finally to
consumers.

Channel II. Tea growers sell both leaves and buds to Bought leaf factories for mass‐
producing tea. After the processing factories have turned them into make tea, it is sold in
the market mainly through wholesale. Such tea is mainly supplied to places such as
hotels, restaurants, consumers and to auctions..

Channel III. Tea growers process fresh leaves into tea and sell it themselves by
establishing Self Help Groups . On the one hand, tea growers sell their tea to corporate
factories and businessmen that come to their place to buy tea. On the other hand, tea
growers further process crude tea into high‐end tea and sell it in the township‐ or county‐
level retail market. In the genuine tea areas, as the tea available is limited but expensive,
dealers and consumers will also go to the tea growing households to buy tea directly.