Ginseng and Polygonatum Herbal Tea OEM – Custom Manufacturing for Herbal Tea Cans | ZeaGrove

Ginseng and Polygonatum herbal tea is dried botanical material packed for brewing rather than a drink in a bottle. The two roots are cut, dried and blended to a fixed ratio, then filled into a can or another pack that keeps moisture out and aroma in. The customer buys a material and brews it; the factory sells a specification.

The category has grown because the format suits both sides of the trade. It carries a recognisable ingredient on the label, which retail likes, and it has a long ambient shelf, which a distributor needs. It also has no brewing step at the factory, so the whole cost sits in the raw material, the cut, the drying and the pack.

Herbal tea OEM is how a brand gets into the category without owning a drying and filling line. The brand brings the market, the label and the ratio, or asks for a blend to be developed, and the manufacturer brings the material specification, the cutting and drying windows, the filling line, the batch records and the export documents.

ZeaGrove is an OEM and ODM manufacturer based in Guangzhou, China, producing herbal tea alongside soups, desserts and drinks. The plant has run since 2018, and most of its output is exported: 80% to 90% of production leaves China.

The line works with dried botanical material in several forms, and a project starts by fixing the form:

• Cut root in a can. The retail format for this category: pieces cut to a stated size, filled to a net weight, sealed with a lid that survives repeated opening.
• Whole or sliced root. Larger pieces for a gift or premium listing, where the piece itself is the visible product.
• Two-root blends. Ginseng and Polygonatum at a fixed ratio, weighed separately and blended in a defined order so the two materials do not separate in the can.
• Blends with a third botanical. Goji berry, jujube or lotus seed added within the format, subject to the destination market's rules on what may be declared.
• Bulk material for repacking. Dried, cut and sieved material supplied to a brand that fills its own retail packs.
• Tea bag, pyramid bag and gift box formats. These run on a different line configuration, so they are scoped as separate projects with their own specification and validation.

Each product is customised to the brand's specification, including the species and part, the cut size, the ratio, the moisture window, the can size and the declaration. More than 5,000 formulas have been developed across the company's lines, and a new blend is usually built from a base that is already running.

The sequence is fixed, and each step leaves a document the buyer keeps.

1. Brief and material specification. The brief names the botanicals, the ratio, the cut you want to see, the can, the destination market and the shelf life required. Species and part are written into the specification, not left to a trade name.
2. Incoming material and identity check. Every lot is checked against its own specification: species, part, origin, cut, moisture and appearance. A lot that passes on paper but differs in appearance is sampled and held, because appearance is the first sign that the material is not what the document says.
3. Cutting and drying. Cutting is set per material rather than per blend, and drying runs to a moisture endpoint rather than a fixed time, because incoming moisture varies by lot. A 2022 study in Foods of medicinal herbs dried in an indirect solar dryer used a final moisture target of 10% on a wet basis and water activity between 0.44 and 0.63. Colour retention was the quality measure that moved with the drying regime.
4. Blending and filling. The two materials are blended to the ratio in the specification and filled by weight against a target with a stated tolerance. Net content is checked during the run and again at release, because a fill head that drifts is invisible until the cans are weighed.
5. Packaging selection. Can size, closure and inner liner are chosen with the label area, because the declaration for the destination market has to fit on the pack. A new can means a new fill setting and a new closure check, even when the recipe does not change.
6. Release checks. The laboratory checks moisture, microbial indicators and net content. A blind sensory panel compares the batch against a retained standard. The packaging check verifies closure integrity and print accuracy against the approved artwork.
7. Documents and shipping. Each lot leaves with its incoming records, batch record, process log, certificate of analysis and retained sample reference, plus the export documents the market requires.

• A plant built for dried botanical material. Founded in 2018 in Guangzhou, with more than 30 high-speed lines and 350 to 400 staff. Cutting, drying, sieving, blending and filling sit in one plant, so a specification is agreed and executed in the same place.
• Specifications written per material. Cut size and moisture endpoints are set for each botanical rather than for the blend, which is what stops a two-root blend from separating or drifting in appearance between lots.
• Formulation depth. More than 5,000 formulas developed to date, with over 10% of revenue going back into research and development. Utility patents were granted in 2020 and design patents in 2021, and the company was recognised as a food-medicine homology innovation enterprise in 2023 and as a national high-tech enterprise in 2024.
• Export experience. 80% to 90% of output is exported, and more than 2,000 brand clients had been served as of April 2024. Ingredient naming, net content and storage conditions are prepared for the destination market before artwork.
• Records that answer an audit. Incoming lot sheets, batch records, process logs and retained samples are held per lot, and a changeover is reconciled against the pallet issue record before a run restarts.

Start with the brief: the botanicals and ratio, the cut you want, the can or pack, the destination market and the shelf life the channel needs. Artwork is not required at this stage; the market decides the declaration, and the declaration is designed before the label is drawn.

A written brief is enough to quote from and to make a first sample. If the ratio works and the cut reads well, the next step is a run on the line, because a sample made by hand is not evidence of what a filler will do. Once the trial holds, production is scheduled on the same line with the same records.

Explore ZeaGrove's herbal tea manufacturing capabilities.

It is a service where a contract manufacturer supplies dried botanical material, cut and blended to a specification, packed for brewing under another brand's label. The manufacturer works to the brand's ratio, cut and pack, and provides the lot records that go with the shipment.

Cut root in a can is the main retail format, with whole or sliced root for premium listings and bulk material for brands that pack their own. Tea bags, pyramid bags and gift boxes run on a different line configuration and are scoped as separate projects.

Under OEM the brand brings the formula and the manufacturer runs it to that specification. Under ODM the manufacturer develops the formula and the brand approves it. Private label means the pack carries the brand while the formula stays with whoever developed it.

By setting a cut size for each material rather than one for the blend, blending in a defined order, and limiting how long the blend sits in the hopper before filling. Net content and appearance are checked during the run, not only at release.

The botanicals and the ratio, the cut size, the can or pack, the destination market and the required shelf life. A short written brief is enough to start, and it can be revised once the first sample is in hand.