Jinyun yellow tea expands industrial chain

A yellow tea garden in Jinyun county in Lishui, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Lishui Daily]

Jinyun county in Lishui, Zhejiang province, is expanding its yellow tea industrial chain.

A local company in Huzhen town has developed yellow tea beers. Since launching in late August of last year, sales have exceeded 10 million yuan ($1.49 million). The company expects sales to surpass 30 million yuan this year. It also plans to enter the matcha sector.

Dayuan town, the core production area of Jinyun yellow tea, has high-mountain tea gardens at 600 to 850 meters above sea level. Local firms have moved beyond premium dry tea by developing deep-processed products.

Zhejiang Longyuan Tea has worked with Xi'an Fu Tea and Goodme, a tea beverage chain brand, to supply yellow tea for milk tea, producing 50 metric tons of raw material for new tea drinks in 2025, worth 8 million yuan.

Meanwhile, Zhejiang Jiushengqian Agricultural Development turns discarded tea powder into tea soap sets and expects to see over 35 million yuan in output value this year.

In 2025, Jinyun's yellow tea planting area reached 13,500 mu (900 hectares), with 58 tons of output and 127 million yuan in output value. The value of the whole chain hit 452 million yuan, up 3.6 percent.

Moreover, its brand value climbed to 662 million yuan, ranking among China's top 10 tea brands in terms of premium power.

The chain has also boosted agritourism, with Longkeng village in Dayuan town receiving over 2,000 tourists from July to October last year.