Research on the Factors Influencing the Sales of Fenghuang Dancong

Tea

Zichong Huang

Enliten International Education, Foshan, Guangdong, China

Keywords: Fenghuang Dancong Tea, Tea Culture, Tea Industry Development.

Abstract: As a representative of China's high-quality oolong tea, Phoenix Dancong tea has important cultural, economic

and agricultural value. This article investigates and analyzes the individual factors affecting the sales volume

of Fenghuang Dancong tea. It introduces the history, characteristics, and market background of Fenghuang

Dancong tea, as well as the significance of this study. By examining historical sales data, the study analyzes

the trends in sales volume and infers the causes behind these changes. Furthermore, it explores additional

potential factors influencing the tea’s sales. The findings suggest that agricultural yield, product promotion

and marketing, packaging quality and design, consumer experience, and competition from other products in

the market all play significant roles in influencing Fenghuang Dancong tea’s sales. Through research, this

article proposes that Phoenix Dancong Tea can enhance brand awareness, strengthen consumer resonance,

expand market influence, and ultimately drive continued growth in sales and cultural identity by integrating

traditional packaging culture, continuously improving economic levels, and live e-commerce.

1 INTRODUCTION

Chinese tea boasts a long history, with its

development positively impacting social progress

across different historical periods. The Chaozhou

Fenghuang Dancong Tea Cultural System holds

remarkable economic and social functions.

Economically, local residents in Fenghuang Town

rely on cultivating and selling Dancong tea for their

livelihood, making it the primary local industry.

Socially, as an agricultural cultural heritage,

Fenghuang Dancong tea has integrated with tourism

and processing industries, thereby expanding

agricultural functions, reducing unemployment, and

driving local economic and social development

(Yang, 2023).

Since 2020, as China entered the phase of building

a moderately prosperous society, the rising living

standards have led to an increased demand for quality

of life. As a traditional beverage, tea consumption has

also grown, along with market demand. With the

advancement of globalization and widespread

internet access, public awareness of tea culture has

deepened. Platforms such as short videos, online

games promoting Chinese tea culture, and virtual

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-0974-5193

tourism have enhanced tea culture dissemination and

stimulated interest and purchasing intentions among

consumers.

The internet has become a vital medium for

information dissemination, driving both tea culture

promotion and the expansion of the tea market. The

tea industry not only has advantages in trade but also

complements other sectors. It contributes to national

economic development and tourism, with the tea

tourism market exceeding 100 billion RMB in 2023.

Internationally, tea culture serves as a key bridge,

attracting more countries and enterprises to engage in

tea-related economic activities.

The rise of digital marketing has supported

various industries, including tea. In 1994, China’s tea

production was approximately 180,000 tons. From

1994 to 1999, tea exports grew by 11%, reaching

286,000 tons by 2005, an increase of 26%. By 2020,

China’s tea exports fluctuated between 320,000 and

350,000 tons. However, in recent years, average

export volumes have declined, dropping from

367,500 tons in 2023 to approximately 340,000 tons

in 2024—a 7.56% year-on-year decrease. Overall,

over two decades, China’s total tea export revenue

reached around $20 billion USD.

Huang, Z.

Research on the Factors Inﬂuencing the Sales of Fenghuang Dancong Tea.

DOI: 10.5220/0013815500004708

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Innovations in Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy (IAMPA 2025), pages 139-144

ISBN: 978-989-758-774-0

139

Given tea’s significant role in international trade

and economic development, its market sales have

drawn increasing attention from entrepreneurs.

Therefore, boosting tea sales has become a key

concern for many businesses. Achieving steady

growth in tea sales requires an in-depth understanding

of influencing factors such as the tea’s growing

environment—including temperature, humidity,

wind, soil, and rainfall—as well as marketing

channels like live broadcast e-commerce, cultural

promotion, and international trade events.

As a relatively niche tea category, Fenghuang

Dancong tea still holds strong market potential. This

study aims to identify and analyze the factors

influencing its sales to enhance its competitiveness

and promote the development of the tea industry.

2 MARKET BACKGROUND AND

DEVELOPMENT TRENDS

2.1 Introduction to Fenghuang

Dancong Tea

Fenghuang Dancong tea is a type of oolong tea

produced in Chao’an District, Chaozhou City,

Guangdong Province. One of its key characteristics is

its wide range of aromas—up to 18 types—including

Huangzhi aroma, Tongtian aroma,Pomelo flower

aroma and more, earning it the nickname “perfume of

teas.” The existing mother tree is over 300 years old,

and the history of this tea can be traced back to the

Song Dynasty, more than 900 years ago.

According to legend, during the late Nansong

Dynasty, Emperor Zhao Bing fled to the Chaoshan

area. Thirsty and exhausted, he was offered fresh tea

leaves picked from Fenghuang Mountain by his

servant. After chewing the leaves, he felt revitalized

and named the tea “Song Tea.” Another tale tells of a

phoenix bird delivering tea leaves to the emperor,

leading to the nickname “Bird Beak Tea” (Yang,

2024).

In ancient times, people cultivated tea without

trimming the branches or leaves, allowing the tea

plants to grow freely. As a result, the branches and

leaves of different tea trees intertwined, and the plants

were scattered like stars across the land. Later, during

the Qing Dynasty, in order to improve the quality of

tea, people began selecting and cultivating individual

tea trees. They adopted the method of single-plant

picking, processing, and selling, separating tea trees

of varying quality for individual cultivation. At that

time, over ten thousand ancient tea trees of differing

quality were managed using this single-plant method.

This approach of cultivating individual plants is what

later came to be known as “Dancong” (meaning

“single cluster”). Passed down through generations,

this tea came to be known as Fenghuang Dancong tea.

2.2 Market Background

Fenghuang Dancong tea is a major industry in the

Chaozhou region. Though not as well-known as West

Lake Longjing or Dahongpao, it has gradually

expanded its market since the Qing Dynasty. During

the Guangxu era, it spread to Southeast Asia via

traveling merchants, and later to Europe, Africa, and

the Americas (Zhang, 2022). In the mid-20th century,

the Fenghuang Dancong tea industry experienced a

revival and began to expand its market presence once

again. Although it did not become a household name,

it has received numerous domestic and international

awards in recent years. From 1995 to 2020, it earned

no fewer than 25 honors. Fenghuang Dancong tea has

also made progress in terms of cultural heritage. In

Dongxing Village, Fenghuang Town, Chao’an

District, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province,

several Fenghuang Dancong Tea Museums have been

established. These museums provide visitors with

information about Fenghuang Dancong tea and have

been carefully designed to include various themed

areas, such as a tea culture exhibition hall, a specimen

museum of the “Song Tea No.1” at the Fenghuang

Dancong Tea Research Institute, and a tea ware

exhibition hall, forming a comprehensive cultural hub

dedicated to Dancong tea.

The Chaozhou Fenghuang Dancong Tea Museum

serves as an influential platform for the preservation

and promotion of Dancong tea culture, helping more

people learn about Fenghuang Dancong tea. In doing

so, it not only spreads the tea culture but also instills

a sense of cultural pride among local residents. In

recent years, the culture of the Chaoshan region has

spread widely across the country. Traditional cultural

elements such as the Yingge dance, Chaoshan cuisine,

and Chao embroidery have significantly boosted the

region’s tourism industry. With the continuous

growth of local tourism and a steady increase in the

annual number of visitors, the popularity of

Fenghuang Dancong tea has also risen. As a result of

these factors—including awards, cultural promotion,

and tourism—Fenghuang Dancong tea has gradually

expanded its market reach.(Xu, 2022)

2.3 Growth Conditions

Agricultural output is the most fundamental and

primary factor affecting tea sales. The growth of

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Fenghuang Dancong tea is mainly influenced by the

following aspects: geographical conditions, soil

conditions, climate conditions, and cultivation

management.

Altitude: Typically grown at elevations between

600–1500 meters, where misty climates and abundant

rainfall enhance amino acid and aromatic compound

accumulation, improving flavor and reducing

bitterness. Higher altitudes also mean fewer pests.

Soil conditions: The cultivation of this tea

requires very specific soil conditions. Fenghuang

Dancong tea thrives in deep layers of yellow and red

soils with a pH value between 4.5 and 6.5. These soils

are rich in various organic substances, which promote

the tea plant’s metabolism and enhance the aroma of

the tea leaves.

Climate: Produced primarily in Fenghuang

Mountain, Chaozhou, which has an average annual

temperature of 20°C and annual rainfall of 1600–

1800 mm—perfect for year-round tea cultivation.

3 ANALYSIS OF FACTORS

INFLUENCING SALES OF

FENGHUANG DANCONG TEA

The output of tea is the foundation of market supply.

According to the survey (Weng & Ke, 2024), from

2019 to 2023, the tea planting area and the total output

in Chaozhou City are shown in Figure 1. The blue line

represents the planting area, and the yellow line

represents the total output.

Figure 1: The changing trends of tea planting area and total output in chaozhou city from 2019 to 2023 (Photo/Picture credit:

Original).

As can be seen from Figure 1, both the planting

area and the total output of Fenghuang Dancong tea

showed an upward trend within these five years.

However, the agricultural production efficiency did

not exhibit a completely positive growth trend.

Set the planting area and the total output as the

independent variable and the dependent variable

respectively, and draw the chart as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: The relationship between the planting area and the total output of fenghuang dancong tea (Photo/Picture credit:

Original).

As can be seen from Figure 2, with the increase of

the planting area, the total output generally shows an

upward trend. At first, the output grew rapidly, but

then the growth rate slowed down, showing a certain

16.6

18.1

22.5

23.4

24.1

1.84

2.25

2.67

2.8

3.01

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Planting area (10000 acres) Total output (10000 tons)

1.5

2.5

3.5

15 17 19 21 23 25

16.6 18.1 22.5 23.4 24.1

Research on the Factors Inﬂuencing the Sales of Fenghuang Dancong Tea

141

non-linear relationship. After the planting area was

further expanded, the growth rate of the total output

rose again, indicating that the impact of the planting

scale on the output may have phased changes. This

may reflect some challenges faced in the planting

process, such as labor shortages, climate change and

other factors. These issues may affect the production

efficiency and quality of tea, and thus affect the

market supply.

In recent years, with the rapid economic

development, there are more and more tea brands.

However, the popularity of Fenghuang Dancong tea

is far less than that of some popular teas, such as West

Lake Longjing and Dahongpao, and it does not have

an advantage in the current domestic tea market. The

insufficient publicity ability of Fenghuang Dancong

tea is also the main reason for this problem, and the

publicity ability also has a certain relationship with

the quality of tea packaging design (Chen & Shen,

2023).

Product packaging is one of the factors affecting

tea sales. With the simultaneous development of the

modern and fashionable economy, more people's

focus when purchasing products has expanded from

only the product quality to the appearance of the

products. More people are willing to buy products

with a more exquisite appearance, in line with their

personal aesthetics, and following the trend of the

times. The packaging of products has become the

focus of many people.

However, the survey found that the sales volume

of many products with beautifully packaged

appearances still cannot be increased, and even the

increase in costs leads to the inability to operate. In

response to this problem, research shows that

traditional culture can not only enhance the sense of

imagery of packaging design, but also deepen the

ideological core and emotional expression of

packaging design, meet consumers' spiritual needs for

products, and is conducive to shaping the brand image

of products with an inner core (Lü & Zeng, 2024).

Therefore, merely exquisite and gorgeous packaging

cannot effectively impress consumers in the long term.

Products combined with traditional culture are

endowed with other profound meanings by culture.

Making full use of the combination of modern

aesthetics and ancient cultural art makes the

packaging images more unique. Coupled with images

full of a sense of storytelling, the packaging is not

only a display of painting creation, but also a

narration of cultural stories, reflecting the cultural

connotation and spiritual significance of the

commodities (Zhang, 2019), which can better attract

consumers' attention, increase market demand and

thus improve sales.

Take the Gannan Tea-picking Opera as an

example. The Gannan Tea-picking Opera was

originally a form of folk art born out of the culture of

tea planting. Over time, it has combined songs,

dances and operas, and presented many stories of

Gannan to the audience in the form of popular art

dance performances. This has made many teas with

packaging combined with the Gannan Tea-picking

Opera receive more attention and love, and the sales

volume of tea has thus increased.

Incorporating the visual elements of the Gannan

Tea-picking Opera into the tea packaging design can

effectively help local brands achieve differentiation

and create a unique brand identity. This

differentiation lies not only in the visual uniqueness,

but also in the deep cultural values and stories it

conveys. In a highly competitive market, the shaping

of such a cultural brand helps local brands stand out

and attract consumers who seek unique cultural

experiences and emotional resonance (Li & Wu,

2025).

Category competition is one of the factors

influencing consumers' purchasing decisions.

Fenghuang Dancong tea is not particularly famous or

popular among tea categories. According to the data,

the most popular tea in the world is black tea, with an

annual global production of 3.52 million tons. The

average annual output value of Chinese black tea is

50 billion yuan. Green tea is the best-selling tea in

China, and its most representative varieties are West

Lake Longjing, Dongting Biluochun, and Huangshan

Maofeng. As a tea with a long history, green tea also

has a considerable output and economic contribution,

with an internal sales volume of about 198 billion

yuan, accounting for 59.1% of the total sales volume.

However, oolong tea, to which Fenghuang Dancong

tea belongs, has an internal sales volume of 31.1

billion yuan in China, accounting for only 9.3% of the

total sales volume. As shown in Table 1:

Table 1: Approximate Internal Sales Volume of the Top

Five Teas in China in 2023 and Their Approximate

Proportions in the Past Five Years

Type

Domestic sales revenue

(in billions of yuan)

Proportion

reen tea 1978 60%

red tea 561 16%

lack tea 358.6 12%

oolong 311 9%

white tea 107.5 3%

The market of substitute products can also affect

the sales volume of Fenghuang Dancong tea. Coffee

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is a strong competitor to tea. The proportion of the

global population drinking coffee and tea is

approximately 1:2. Although the consumption

volume of tea is higher than that of coffee, second

only to water, influenced by social fashion and culture,

contemporary young people also choose to drink

coffee.

Figure 3: Microeconomic demand and supply diagram

(Photo/Picture credit: Original).

As can be seen from Figure 3, when the price of a

substitute for a commodity changes, it will also cause

changes in the quantity demanded and supplied of this

commodity, thus affecting the transaction volume.

When the price of the substitute decreases, people's

demand for the substitute may be greater than that for

the original commodity. People are more willing to

buy the substitute, resulting in a decrease in the

demand for the original commodity, and the demand

curve shifts to the left. Under the condition of

unchanged supply, if the quantity demanded increases

from QD to QD1, the price will also increase from P

to P1. Otherwise, the opposite will occur, which will

lead to a decrease in the sales volume of the original

commodity.

Combining Table 1 and Figure 3, it can be known

that the sales volume of oolong tea accounts for less

than 10% of the total, and it has top three competitors,

namely green tea, black tea, and dark tea. When these

substitute tea categories of Fenghuang Dancong tea

are popular, it is very likely to lead to a decline in the

demand for oolong tea, thus restricting the sales

volume of oolong tea. The number of people who

drink both tea and coffee is not large. As a substitute

for tea in general, coffee has an absolute impact on

the demand for Fenghuang Dancong tea. Currently,

Fenghuang Dancong tea is still a niche category of

oolong tea. Under these restrictive conditions, there

are great challenges in increasing the sales volume of

Fenghuang Dancong tea.

4 SUGGESTIONS

In the marketing strategy of Fenghuang Dancong tea,

packaging design that incorporates traditional

cultural elements is an effective approach to boost

sales.

Firstly, integrate the historical tales of Fenghuang

Dancong tea. Narrate the legend of the phoenix

presenting the tea, and design the packaging in

combination with the image of the phoenix. This can

showcase the cultural charm of the legendary Chinese

creature and emphasize the characteristics of the

name of Fenghuang Dancong tea.

Secondly, combine the traditional cultures of the

Chaoshan region, such as elements of Yingge Dance,

Chaoshan Opera, Chaoshan Embroidery, and

Chaoshan Woodcarving. Leverage the development

of the Internet to enable wider dissemination of these

traditional cultures. This will enhance the cultural

connotations of the product and elevate consumers'

sense of cultural identity. The incorporation of local

traditional culture can evoke a strong resonance

among consumers, making them more inclined to

purchase and promote the product.

In this way, the packaging design that combines

cultural stories can not only highlight the uniqueness

of the brand but also expand the market reach and

increase sales.

With the continuous improvement of the national

economic standard, tea, as a normal good, has

experienced a steady increase in demand. A normal

good is defined as a product for which demand

increases as consumers’ income rises. The rise in

economic levels implies that individuals have greater

disposable income, enabling them to allocate more

financial resources toward discretionary consumption.

As a result, purchasing power is enhanced, which is

positively correlated with overall market sales

volume.

According to official statistics, China’s GDP

reached 134.9 trillion yuan in 2024, with per capita

GDP approaching 90,000 yuan, reflecting a notable

increase compared to previous years.

Correspondingly, the total sales volume of tea

products also exhibited sustained growth. In the post-

pandemic period, both China’s GDP and the

production efficiency of Fenghuang Dancong tea

have improved significantly. These developments

have contributed to the continuous rise in the sales of

Fenghuang Dancong tea.

Live - streaming e - commerce has become a

major trend in product sales (Ge, Fang & Qiu, 2022).

Fenghuang Dancong tea enterprises should enter the

Internet and participate in live - streaming e -

Research on the Factors Inﬂuencing the Sales of Fenghuang Dancong Tea

143

commerce. According to data surveys, the online

sales volume of most commodities is far more than

twice that of offline sales. The marketing methods of

live - streaming e - commerce and online sales have a

very obvious effect on stimulating people's

consumption (Yu, 2025).

5 CONCLUSION

The agricultural production efficiency of Fenghuang

Dancong tea is directly related to the total output.

Innovative publicity and the integration of traditional

culture, as well as the popularity of the Chaoshan -

region culture in packaging, have an impact on the

number of consumers and the amount of consumption.

The market for substitute products such as coffee and

other varieties of tea also affects the demand for

Fenghuang Dancong tea and, consequently, the

number of consumers. The economic level of the

people and the increase in people's purchasing power

can both influence the sales volume of Fenghuang

Dancong tea.

Currently, there is still a problem of a small

number of enterprises operating Fenghuang Dancong

tea, and large - scale sales stores for Fenghuang

Dancong tea have not been realized. There is great

room for progress in the development of the tertiary

industry. The Internet has become a social medium

for people, and most people spend most of their time

online. With the development of scientific and

technological levels and the assistance of artificial

intelligence, the efficiency of more and more

enterprises will be improved, and the development of

Fenghuang Dancong tea can continue to progress.

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