Lincang pu'er company formed in 1999 when Rong Jiasheng bought the state Shuangjiang tea factory; Mengku/Rongshi labels and an early Bingdao buyer.
The 2019 anniversary event (ipucha) counts 20 years of the brand, which implies 1999, the year of the acquisition. A seller's Sohu article dates the 'Mengku Rongshi' brand to 2004. The company and the 勐库 trademark date from 1999; the Rongshi family name may have come into use as a sub-brand later.
The state Shuangjiang County Tea Factory was founded in 1974 (Yunnan Sourcing). Rong Jiasheng (戎加升), whom the company calls the second-generation bearer of the family's 'Rongshi benwei' tea-making style, started in primary processing: ipucha dates his first station, in Lipijing village, to 1985. He contracted further stations in 1987-1988 and in 1993 set up a tea blending factory in Mengku, which ipucha calls the first private tea-refining business in Shuangjiang. By 1999 he ran 12 primary processing stations. In July 1999 he bought the bankrupt county factory and formed 云南双江勐库茶叶有限责任公司 (ipucha, Sohu).
Products under the 勐库 brand (宫廷普洱 and 特级普洱茶) won gold awards in 2002 and 2003. The firm is closely tied to Bingdao: CPPCC Daily reports that vice chairman Rong Yuting (戎玉廷) was buying fresh leaf in Bingdao in 2004, when it fetched about 4 yuan a jin, and in 2005 the company made its 母树茶 ('Mother Tree') pu'er from Mengku large-leaf leaf grown in the Bingdao area. The flagship 勐库茶魂 ('Spirit of Tea') sheng ran from 2009 (500 g cakes) to 2014, won a 2011 Yunchabei gold award, was renamed 本味大成 in 2015 and returned in 2021. Yunnan Sourcing names Mu Shu Cha, Wild Arbor King and Spirit of Tea as the classic recipes.
The company runs leaf-collection stations and an organic base in Hegong (亥公) village, and Rong Jiasheng holds a patent on a tall stone press for cakes. In 2019 Shuangjiang County gave him the title 'reviver of Mengku large-leaf tea' at the brand's 20th-anniversary event.
