‘Queen of green tea’ trade left with bitter taste
Print Edition
ALTHOUGH spring is the main season for tea harvesting and sales, growers near West Lake in Hangzhou, in east China’s Zhejiang Province, are feeling a chill this year due to China’s frugality and anti-corruption campaigns.
In contrast to previous years, few people are buying high-end tea at Longjing Village, a major production base for West Lake Longjing tea.
“Buyers are only offering us between 5,000 yuan (US$805) and 5,600 yuan per kilogram, a third lower than last year,” said a grower surnamed Jiang.
Prices reached 16,000 yuan per kg in 2012.
Dubbed the “queen of green tea,” West Lake Longjing is one of the most famous teas in the country, with 370 million drinkers.
However, national campaigns since late 2012 banning officials from accepting gifts or buying extravagant goods with public money have hit the high-end tea industry.
A villager surnamed Qian said a government bureau in the province would order 10 kilos of high-end tea each year. “This year, for the first time, they canceled their order.”
The Spring Festival and Qingming Festival, which falls on Saturday this year, are usually peak sales periods for West Lake Longjing tea. Not this year.
Local gift shop owner Du Qiaohong has not sold a single box of high-end Longjing tea since before the Spring Festival in January.
“Few people buy them as gifts now,” said Du, who plans to close the gift shop.
Witnessed slump
Tea leaf dealers have also witnessed a slump. Lu Jiangmei, chairwoman of Hangzhou Zhenghao Tea Leaf Co Ltd, said unlike previous years, when “major clients” from across the country ordered 70 percent of their high-end teas, the firm has this year decided to buy less to avoid being left with unsold stock.
“If the tea is not sold this year, it will be worthless next year when new tea leaves are harvested,” she said.
The company is one of the largest dealers of Longjing tea, with 30,000 kilos of tea leaves sold last year. A sixth of that was high-end tea, said Lu.
To boost sales, she said the company was looking into online trade and lower prices.
Communist Party leaders introduced an eight-point rule a month after they were elected in November 2012 to fight corruption and bureaucracy. The ongoing campaign requires officials to be more frugal.
A 2013 regulation bans officials from giving and accepting gifts, tours and banquets with the use of public cash.
Some industry figures welcomed the price slump.
Zhang Yufu, manager of a tea auction company, said the price of high-end Longjing tea is now reasonable, which is good for the industry.
“With tea as our national drink, we don’t want West Lake Longjing tea to be a privilege for the few,” said Qi Guowei, who owns West Lake Longjing brand Gong.
“Instead, we hope it’s in the tea cups of ordinary people.”
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