Tea Industry Competitiveness, Regional Branding, and Sustainable Upgrading in Asia: An Integrative Literature Review

Huikai Yang; Chi Gong

doi:10.6918/IJOSSER.202609_9(9).0034

Authors

Huikai Yang Department of Global Business, Kyonggi University, Suwon, Republic of Korea
Chi Gong Department of Global Business, Kyonggi University, Suwon, Republic of Korea

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6918/IJOSSER.202609_9(9).0034

Keywords:

Tea industry; competitiveness; regional public brand; sustainable upgrading; global value chains; technical barriers to trade; e-commerce adoption; Asia.

Abstract

This integrative review examines how competitiveness in the tea industry is being reshaped by sustainability requirements, digital platforms, organizational change, and regional trade arrangements. Rather than treating competitiveness as a result of production or export volume alone, it traces how regional resources are converted, or fail to be converted, into reliable quality, market recognition, farmer income, and environmental legitimacy. The review brings together selected Chinese-language and comparative Asian studies on regional upgrading, trade standards, organizational coordination, green production, e-commerce, public branding, and cross-country development. It finds that the literature is rich in indicators and case descriptions but less clear about the mechanisms linking firm capabilities, institutional coordination, market access, and consumer trust. On this basis, the article proposes a multi-level framework and identifies priorities for further work on value-chain relations, firm-level change, farmer behavior, carbon accounting, platform governance, and comparative theory.

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