Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1022507
22 tobaccoasia / Issue 4, 2018 September / October China: Tea-Flavored Cigarettes Take Off A perfect combination: tea and cigarettes As the Chinese market evolves, two trends have become very clear: one is the upgrading of con- sumption, and the other is the rationalization of high-end consumption. At present, traditional cigarette brands and homogenized styles fail to meet the needs of today's consumers. Therefore, Chinese cigarette brands in the past two years have developed new styles. Cigarettes, alcohol, and tea are a must-have for each household as they represent traditional Chinese hospitality. Based on this, China Tobacco Guizhou Industrial Co., Ltd. integrated alcohol into cigarettes in 2008, a move achieving great success in the market. In the past two years, China Tobacco Shandong Industrial Co., Ltd. (CT Shan- dong) actively integrated tea into cigarettes for its Taishan brand. The tea-flavored category won the initial praise of the market. With the maturity and popularization of flavored capsules technol- ogy, tea-flavored capsules have become a big hit in the market, which on the one hand has further increased the number of cigarette categories, and on the other hand also realized the integration of tobacco and tea. Tobacco corporations are increasing their ef- forts in producing products in these two catego- ries. Among them, the following brands outper- form others in the market: Taishan (Confucianism) from CT Shandong, Longfeng Chengxiang (Treasure) from China Tobacco Chongqing, Jiao Zi (Tea Rhyme) from China Tobacco Sichuan, and Seven Wolves (Golden Brick Age) from China Tobacco Fujian. Of these brands, Taishan Confucianism is the market leader in terms of overall reputation and evaluation. On May 31, 2018, CT Shandong launched its Taishan (Jasmine Flavor) series at the New Ciga- rette Tasting Symposium. The product is popular with smokers as they fell that it respects the tradi- tional consumption habit that the Chinese smok- ers love tea. In fact, as early as 2008, CT Shandong pro- posed the concept of "bringing tea into ciga- rettes", pioneering the tea-flavored category. Su- percritical extraction technology, tea extraction, tea polyphenols, and other industrial-grade inno- vative processes are adopted to achieve a light tea fragrance when smoking. The tea-flavored style produces a three-layered experience: first it tastes slightly sweet, then comes the rich tobacco flavor, and, finally, tea molecules and the flavor remains in the mouth. Today's consumers are more concerned about quality and cost-effectiveness, and they are willing to pay more for high-quality goods and services. Taishan strives to reduce harmful components in its By TobaccoChina Online