CATA members representing US importers and Fujian Mountain Farms tea farming co-ops met with Cai Mei Sheng,
the Deputy Mayor/Minister of Agriculture, in Fuding last month to discuss tea trade relations between the United
States and China.
Among other concerns, pricing of the dollar against the yuan was a topic of discussion. With the yuan
slowly edging up, tea prices are potentially subject to immediate change, as are other products imported from China to the US.
"In general, my job is to promote the best green and white tea," said Mr. Sheng. "Yuan is relatively stable, so we are more
concerned with the purity and growing standards for Chinese teas exported to the US."
Fuding has a reputation for purity that the city is determined to uphold, and much of the efforts of Tai Mu
and Iron Paradise are monitoring use of chemicals and ensuring that we "only export the pure tea."
Regarding the yuan, "we may see a big change in the next few years," says CPO John Shi, a CATA member who has purchased all the tea for his import company through CATA farm co-ops.
But the affect on tea prices will ultimately be felt by the consumer, Mr. Shi says, since green and white tea from the mountain area farms are limited in quantity. "But it will happen slowly. China has a long-term plan in mind."
A bigger reason to expect tea prices to increase, says Mr. Sheng, is the growing popularity of teas that are rare and prized in China. Most of the Chinese companies buying the priority crops in Fujian are selling them in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where foreigners pay a premium in tea shops and airports.
Xiamen Municipal Health Bureau watches bird flu, other problems
On a recent trip to Xiamen, CATA reps met with Deputy Director General Dr. Guanhua Yao of Xiamen Munipal Health Bureau. "China's government has good
standards for worker's environments," Dr. Yao explained. "But enforcement is difficult. Small companies arise and move their operations overnight." Xiamen is known
worldwide for its low-cost packaging and is used by many overseas companies for outsourced production.
CATA member factories in Xiamen are inspected regularly, and CATA members interested in promoting Fair Trade Certification standards met with Xiamen factory owners to review processes last month.
"Bird flu has not been a problem in our farms and factories yet," said Dr. Yao. "Because the flu has not been able to spread to humans from other humans." So far, only peole working directly with birds have acquired the flu, with the exception of one or two unexplained cases.
Air quality is also a concern, especially in Xiamen, known for its beauty as a tourist town and its world marathon in march. In an effort to move all factories to areas outside the city, Xiamen is requiring companies producing any waste to move outside the tourist areas.
Ask the Teamasters
QUESTION: I keep hearing about stems in a negative way, but my favorite oolong has a lot of stem.
Is stemmy tea indicative of cheap grades?
ANSWER: No. While this is commonly found to be the case, one should not overgeneralize about a particular tea standard because most of them have exceptions. For example, many teaas require stems to achieve exactly the right flavor. In particular, oolong teas that include a lot of stems typically have additional sharpness not found in oolongs with less stems. In fact, if you like this tea, its stem content is likely appropriate for your taste.
When looking at new-leaf teas and needle tips, generally one would not expect to find stems. So the answer is, whatever your taste, but some teas almost always have stems and some do not. A more clear indication of quality in the appearance is the intactness of the leaves; the smaller the leaf pieces, the lower the grade in most cases.
