Chinese Tea Brand Molly Tea Launches Health Support Initiative for Women Tea Pickers in Anxi
Chinese tea beverage brand Molly Tea has launched a new social impact initiative supporting women tea pickers in Anxi, Fujian, as part of a broader campaign tied to its latest product. Moving beyond aesthetic tea-culture branding, the company travelled into the tea mountains of Anxi during the spring harvest season, documenting the daily lives and labour conditions of local tea-picking women who spend long days harvesting the season’s first tea leaves by hand.
In partnership with the Xiamen Tongxin Volunteer Service Center, Molly Tea launched a “Spring Tea Picker Health Support Action” in May to provide medical assistance and essential supplies to workers facing physically demanding conditions during the peak tea season. The brand also released a short film titled “Flowers on the Hat,” capturing not only the physical realities of tea picking, but also the resilience, beauty, and optimism of the women behind the harvest — from flowers pinned to their hats to the local Minnan expression “suì,” used to describe something beautiful or full of life.
The campaign arrives amid growing public discussion on Chinese social media around the working conditions of seasonal tea labourers, including accommodation standards, labour intensity, and access to basic protections. Previously, tea-picking women had largely appeared in Molly Tea’s branding as stylised cultural imagery and merchandise motifs. This latest initiative signals a shift toward more human-centred sourcing narratives, reframing the conversation from where good tea comes from to who harvests it — and how brands can play a role in supporting the communities behind agricultural supply chains.
