ELEVATING AND INCREASING THE VALUE OF GMELINA ARBOREA FLOWER TEA THROUGH CREATIVE PACKAGING DESIGN OF THE TAI LUE LOCAL FOOD COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE GROUP, BAN HAT BAI, RIM KHONG SUBDISTRICT, CHIANG RAI PROVINCE

Abstract

The research objective was to upgrade and add the value of Gmelina arborea flower tea products through creative packaging design for the Tai Lue Local Food Community Enterprise Group. This study adopted a Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology and combined qualitative and quantitative data from 94 accidentally sampled consumers, 3 experts and 12 purposefully selected community leaders and members. Data collection involved in-depth interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and workshop-based activities, which were subsequently analyzed through content analysis and descriptive and inferential statistics, specifically means, standard deviations, and t-tests. The research results showed that the community had key cultural identities for the design, including the Gmelina arborea flower, Tai Lue weaving patterns, the Mekong River, the “Tai Lue Noi” mascot, “Hai Hom Hak” branding, pavilions, and the century-old tree stump. The “Hai Hom Hak” logo was designed to relate to the linguistic identity, landscape, local wisdom, and artistic elements. There are two forms of packaging: the sachet and a gift box with a lid lined with Tai Lue hand-woven fabric. The designs used a systematic integration of cultural capital, food labelling standards, and storytelling and were rated as most appropriate by both experts and the community. Furthermore, a statistically significant increase in overall consumer satisfaction was observed for all dimensions, and trial sales showed high market acceptance for premium souvenirs. Finally, the transfer of tea packaging production technology allowed the community to scale up these manufacturing skills to other local products in a sustainable way.