COMPARISON OF THE PAST CHINESE HERBAL TEA SHOP & HUNG FOOK TONG
The past Chinese Herbal Tea Shop is family business, which is relatively small scale and inheritable, but Hung Fook Tong is a group that operates an extensive retail store network, thereby different marketing strategies have been used while the distinct values of Chinese herbal tea would be derived as well.
Commercialization VS.
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Hung Fook Tong is a derivative of traditional Chinese herbal tea shop and modernization. It tends to become increasingly prevalent among the younger generation. A variety of products are sold and prepackaged in Hung Fook Tong in order to satisfy the fast pace and the evolving need of diverse consumers nowadays. Both direct sales and indirect sales(sales to third-party retailers and distributors) have been used. In contrast, the traditional Chinese herbal tea shop has only adopted direct sales and sold fewer types of products. The Chinese herbal tea is contained in a bowl without any packaging and consumers will drink inside the shop. Traditional herbal tea shop adheres firmly to its belief in selecting authentic ingredients and bringing highly significant drug efficacy to the consumers. The word of mouth among local residents is the only promotional strategy for the past Chinese herbal tea Shops, but Hung Fook Tong has different advertising activities so as to reach wider target audiences, such as television advertisement, sponsorship, etc. Moreover, the herbal tea drinks have become sweeter in order to fit the preference of younger generation. This food and beverage enterprise tends to be more commercialization, emphasizing the sales rather than the qualities and authenticity of Chinese herbal tea. Thus, its drug efficacy is probably not as good as the past Chinese herbal tea shop.
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The Values of Chinese Herbal Tea
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From the perceptive of consumers, traditional Chinese herbal tea shop is generally considered as a social space. Consumers were able to enjoy the western pop music and TV programs in the past. It used to be a favourite dating place for adolescents. Although the jukebox was not existed anymore and watching TV programs has become very common nowadays. The friendly relationship between the shopkeepers and customers has been still there. Not only do the consumers purchase and drink a bowl of herbal tea, but they are also enjoying the chitchat with each other. The warm hospitality and friendliness are offered by traditional Chinese herbal tea shop that Hung Fook Tong will not. Moreover, owing to the new marketing strategy of Hung Fook Tong, different attitudes towards the traditional and the new herbal tea shops are conducted by consumers. Consumers tend to consider the diverse Chinese herbal tea or non- herbal tea in Hung Fook Tong purely as a thirst-quenching drink, but the Chinese herbal tea in traditional shop is thought to be a very affordable traditional medicine for the grassroots which is able to prevent the illness effectively. The drug efficacy is the priority.
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In other words, it can be seen that both traditional and new Chinese herbal tea shop (Hung Fook Tong) have different target audiences. Although the traditional one is relatively small scale with narrow range of consumers, it is undoubtedly irreplaceable because of its authenticity of Chinese herbal tea and invaluable relationship with customers.