ShanghaiMay 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Recently, the CCTV.com program “Quality Witness” visited Suntory Oolong Tea, a leading brand in the sugar-free ready-to-drink tea market, to conduct an in-depth investigation into its full-chain quality management system, from raw material selection and process heritage to technological quality control. Launched nearly three decades ago, Suntory Oolong Tea has built a brand moat that transcends market cycles, grounded in “high-quality premium tea” and aimed at “consumer trust.”
Currently, China’s sugar-free ready-to-drink tea market has entered a scale of tens of billions. However, beneath the boom, market competition is accelerating differentiation. Consumer demand is shifting from a simple pursuit of taste to a sustained focus on raw material quality, ingredient transparency, and flavor innovation. This signals that the industry has moved from the “first half of price competition” into the “second half of value competition,” which tests the true strength and genuine value of brands.
Facing this era-defining challenge, Suntory Oolong Tea is writing its own answer through concrete actions:
- Source Control: Selects oolong tea leaves from core production regions, adhering to the original leaf extraction process;
- Rigorous Quality Control: Conducts over 650 pesticide residue tests and other scientific inspection items, stricter than industry standards;
- Full Traceability: Retains samples from each production batch every hour, undergoing multiple verifications before leaving the factory;
- Long-term Monitoring: Stores finished product samples until the expiration date, with an additional three months of follow-up testing…
From the morning dew on tea leaves in Fujian’s tea mountains to precise screening in laboratories; from the scientific blending of selected tea varieties to the modern inheritance of ancient techniques; from the core technology of original leaf extraction to the layered checks of quality management—behind every bottle of “high-quality premium tea” lies a consistent “quality journey.”
CCTV.com’s ‘Quality Witness’ explores the quality origins of Suntory Oolong Tea
I. From the Mountains to the Palate: Extracting the Rock-Rich Aroma of Oolong Tea
The CCTV.com lens first focuses on the birthplace of oolong tea—Mount Wuyi in Fujian Province. CCTV host Zhang Tao, along with You Yuqiong, a national-level inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Wuyi rock tea craftsmanship, ventured into the tea mountains to hand-pick “Shuixian” oolong and experience the entire process of traditional ancient tea-making.
“The climate and terroir of Mount Wuyi in Fujian endow the tea leaves with a unique rock-rich aroma and floral notes,” You Yuqiong explained. “Suntory Oolong Tea chose Shuixian as its quality flagship mainly because it boasts an elegant orchid fragrance and a distinctive ‘cong’ charm.” The elegant orchid scent and rich, sweet aftertaste of Shuixian tea leaves form the flavor backbone of Suntory Oolong Tea.
As one of the most complex tea types in terms of production methods, oolong tea has a thousand-year heritage of tea-making expertise. Fresh leaves must undergo sun-drying, withering, tossing, fixation, rolling, and roasting—each step requiring experience and patience to lock in the elegant, clear fruity and floral aromas. Modern tea-making techniques, while inheriting the essence of ancient methods, achieve standardized production at scale while preserving this gift of natural flavor.
On the basis of strict raw material selection, Suntory Oolong Tea uses precise scientific blending to balance tea flavors, ensuring that every bottle delivered to consumers has a consistent taste. “Nature endows each tea variety with its unique character,” a brand representative stated. “We, through repeated trials and scientific blending, combine tea leaves with different characteristics to minimize variability and ensure pure and stable flavor.”
Afterward, the carefully selected oolong tea leaves enter a fully automated production line. Leveraging the core technology of original leaf extraction, the tea’s aroma and taste are maximally preserved. From RO water treatment, bottle manufacturing, filling, to packaging, the entire process is precisely controlled through automation, ultimately delivering the pure, refreshing Suntory Oolong Tea that consumers remember.
II. Scientific System, Layered Checks: A Commitment to Peace of Mind Across the Full Cycle
If the journey of flavor extraction creates the product’s appeal, then the safety-guaranteeing management system showcases the brand’s true strength. The most impactful part of the program was undoubtedly the in-depth visit to Suntory’s Analytical Technology Center.
All tea leaf raw materials must undergo a rigorous “super exam” here. “Pesticide residue testing has clear standard answers, but Suntory imposes additional, stricter quality requirements on top of those standards,” a technician emphasized. “Our testing list is never static; whenever any potential risk emerges in the market, we promptly include it in our screening scope. Currently, our pesticide residue testing items have reached over 650.” This not only covers the more than 100 items required by regulations but also includes over 500 additional standards voluntarily set by Suntory, demonstrating its commitment to safety and quality that exceeds expectations.
Inside the laboratory, stringent self-imposed requirements weave a scientific “safety net”; on the production line, Suntory adopts a management model covering the entire product lifecycle: samples are taken and retained from every batch every hour. These samples undergo multiple checks, including sensory and physicochemical tests, on the production day and subsequent days. They are systematically stored until the expiration date, with an additional three months of follow-up testing.
This means that from the moment a beverage is created, it remains under strict quality monitoring throughout its entire process. This long-termist quality management system transforms the concept of “peace of mind” into verifiable data and concrete actions, adding substantial weight to brand trust.
III. Insight into Demand, Expanding Boundaries: Innovation Energizes Brand Vitality
The rigorous quality management system ensures the deliciousness and safety of Suntory Oolong Tea, while the ability to innovate by discerning market trends injects new momentum into the brand’s long-term development. While adhering to its classic original flavor, Suntory Oolong Tea deeply understands consumer needs and continuously expands its flavor boundaries.
In response to consumers’ pursuit of different pure tea tastes, Suntory Oolong Tea continues to innovate in tea variety selection, launching products like Light Oolong and Dancong Oolong. Meanwhile, to meet the younger generation’s demand for layered and diverse experiences, the brand pioneered the integration of floral and fruit blends into the tea base, successively launching composite flavor series such as Jasmine Oolong, Osmanthus Oolong, Tangerine Peel Oolong, and Rose Oolong, infusing the classic oolong tea with vibrant brand vitality.
From raw material selection, process heritage, technological quality control, to brand innovation, this visit by CCTV.com is not only a faithful record of Suntory Oolong Tea’s production process but also a demonstration of the long-termist values that are particularly precious in a fast-paced market competition.
This long-termism is reflected in the reverent protection of natural terroir, the wise inheritance of ancient techniques, and, most importantly, the commitment to peace of mind covering the entire product lifecycle. As competition in the sugar-free ready-to-drink tea market enters the second half of deep value cultivation, only by calming down, internalizing reverence and persistence for quality into the brand’s DNA, can one truly transcend cycles and win consumers’ long-term trust.