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Why the Taiwan Tea prices so different? How to select Taiwan Tea?

why the prices of taiwan tea are so different, expensive taiwan oolong tea, cheap tea.001

The climate and terrain of Taiwan are perfect for growing a wide range of tea plants, from green tea, oolong tea, black tea to lowland and high mountain tea. Of all the teas mentioned, oolong and black tea reflect the features of the origins and have been recognized internationally. However, to tea lovers from all over the world, the biggest challenge lies in the disparity of the prices and quality of Taiwan tea, which leaves them unsure about where to even begin.

To fully understand the price disparity of Taiwan tea, there are a few aspects deserving more attention. First and foremost, the industry chain. We can categorize the people involved in the industry chain as three main roles: tea farmers, wholesalers (mainly B2B), and retailers (mainly B2C).

Every role in the industry chain of Taiwan Tea

Tea farmers: They sometimes sell their products on their own, but most of the time, they sell the majority of their products to the wholesalers and retailers. After all, growing tea and selling tea belong to two separate areas of expertise.

Wholesalers (similar to distributors) and retailers: Wholesalers buy tea leaves in bulk and then sell to retailers or other wholesalers in different countries. They sometimes sell tea to individual customers, while retailers are the most common sources for consumers to buy tea leaves from, such as tea leaf shops or online shops.

Of course, there are still some very powerful companies that implement vertical integration, handling every stage of the products from growing to selling. Taiwan Tea Corporation boasts the highest productivity and the biggest export volume of tea here in Taiwan.

So far, everything seems to make sense. In fact, it is the same concept of wine industry in Burgundy: grape farmers, vintners, wineries, agencies, wholesalers, and retailers.

Now, here’s the problem:
in Taiwan, there are not yet any specific regulations set up to govern the process and roles described above.

Still a small proportion of tea farmers or tea leaf shops do something that compromises the quality

The majority of the tea farmers are all nice, but still unscrupulous ones do exist. They may mix the tea leaves from elsewhere into their products, or they may take the tea leaves from origin A and sell them as the high-priced tea leaves from origin B.

Normally in order to maintain their quality and reputation, wholesalers and retailers need to have the ability to distinguish the quality of each tea batch from the farmers, which requires extensive knowledge and experience in this field and cost as well.
Similarly, retailers put in as much effort to evaluate the quality and maintain cost efficiency when buying from the wholesalers.

Every one of them has different needs based on the amount and quality of the raw materials they require, so they put in different levels of investments. As a result, a huge price disparity between each shop can be found.

Tea leaves are a kind of crops which can be affected by weather

The second problem is the disparity of the quality consistency of tea every season in the same farm.
When the wholesalers and retailers have the same item of products, Alishan (Ali Mountain) Tea, for instance, they don’t necessarily source their products from the same farm every time. However, having the famous tea house’s name listed out tells the consumers that they have a great taste in tea. Therefore, going to a trustworthy tea leaf shop is recommended to individual customers. Going to tea farms isn’t necessarily the best choice, and it is also quite impossible to visit all the farms to choose the tea leaves on your own.

Furthermore, every season has different weather conditions that can affect the amount of production, which ultimately impacts the cost. However, the retail prices don’t fluctuate substantially. Normally, it is the wholesalers and retailers that bear the cost.

Competitions play a significant role in the price

Every year, there are various tea competitions such as high mountain tea, Oriental Beauty tea, Wen-Shan Pou-Chong tea, Tieh-Guan-Yin tea, and Tonding oolong tea. The prices of award-winning tea leaves will soar, which contributes to the turmoil of the prices of Taiwan tea. How big of a price difference can be? Take Oriental Beauty tea as an example. 600g of good quality Oriental Beauty may cost NT$10,000 – NT$ 20,000 (about US$330 -700), but for award-winner ones, they may cost NT$ 500,000 – NT$ 600,000 (about US$ 18,000 – 21,000).

So, do award-winning tea leaves guarantee the taste?
In general, yes. Award-winning teas taste sophisticated, aromatic, and have a sweet aftertaste, but they are not necessarily your favorite. If you enjoy rich and powerful style high mountain tea, you might be a little disappointed when you try Jhinhsuan Oolong Tea that won an award.

Last but not least, when the retailers receive the tea leaves or tea cyanine, whether or not they put in effort to dry, roast, aromatize the tea themselves or commission a professional to do so will affect the price as well.

To sum up, there are many factors that contribute to the retail prices of the tea leaves: the quality and amount of production every season, whether the wholesalers and retailers are honest, how much effort they put in to aroma control, whether they won an award, and whether they decide to roast or further aromatize the tea in the end.

Our advice about how to select tea

Leave this challenge to tea leaf shops! Their job is to select the best tea leaves from the farms and the wholesalers. Therefore, when you come across the tea you really enjoy and you can trust the shop, you can have conversations with them, asking them to help you pick the tea that best matches your taste.

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為什麼台灣茶葉價格如此混亂?如何選擇台灣茶葉?

為什麼台灣茶葉價格混亂? 如何購買台灣茶葉, about-taiwan-tea-industry-and-price

台灣的地形和氣候非常適合種植茶葉,從綠茶、烏龍茶紅茶、平地茶、高山茶都有種植,其中又以烏龍茶與紅茶做得有國際口碑又有產地特色。但是對於全世界的愛茶人士來說最大的問題就是:台灣茶葉的價格與品質的變化實在太大了!不知該如何選起?

要了解台灣茶葉價位的問題要從幾個面向著手,首先要了解整個產業鏈。
我們可以把產業鏈中的角色分成以下幾種:茶農、盤商(B2B 為主)、零售商(以 B2C 為主)。

台灣茶葉產業鏈中的每個角色

茶農:茶農有時候會自產自銷,但大部分的時候會賣給盤商與零售商。畢竟種植茶葉和銷售是不同的專精領域。

盤商(經銷商的概念)與零售商:盤商會大量收購茶葉,然後賣給零售商、或是賣到其他國家的零售商。他們有時也會賣給一般客人。而零售商就是大家最容易接觸到的茶店、茶葉電商,他們大多數是直接賣給一般客人。

當然也有一些較大的公司會直接從茶農一條龍做到零售。目前台灣茶葉最大的公司是「台灣農林」,是生產量、出口量最大的公
目前這些聽起來都很自然,和勃根地的葡萄農、酒商、酒莊、仲介、盤商、零售商是一樣的概念。

現在問題來了!
台灣目前並沒有明確的法規來規範上述的角色與流程。

無論是茶農還是店家,都存在著少數傷害品質的人

大部分的茶農都很好,但是確實存在著不老實的茶農。不老實的茶農可能會參雜非台灣的茶葉來賣,或是拿 A 產地的茶充當 B 產地的茶葉來高價賣。

通常盤商和零售商要能夠分辨茶農每批茶葉的品質才能穩定住自己的品牌名聲以及品質保證,這是很巨大的知識經驗與成本。
相同的,零售商向盤商購買時也要花上許多力氣在鑑定品質、維持成本上。

每個角色對於自己原物料的需求量與品質有不同的需求,就會投注不同的成本,所以每個店家所販售的價格也會差異很大。

茶葉是農產品,會被氣候影響

第二個問題是同一個茶園每一季的品質也會差異很大。所以盤商和零售商相同的品項,例如阿里山茶,不一定每次都會和同一個茶農拿,但是掛著該店家的品項「XXX茶店阿里山茶」,基本上就代表著該店的選品眼光。
所以其實會建議一般消費者和信任的茶店購買,直接找茶農不一定是最佳的選擇,你不可能一天到晚跑產地去選茶葉。

而且因為每一季的天候狀況不一樣,產量也會不一樣,因此茶葉成本也會跟著改變。但是終端售價通常改變不大,常常是盤商和零售商在吸收這個成本變化。

比賽會巨幅影響茶葉售價

每年高山茶東方美人茶、文山包種、鐵觀音凍頂烏龍等等都會舉辦比賽。比賽得獎的茶葉價格會翻好幾倍,這也是台灣茶葉價格混亂的原因之一。比賽得獎的茶葉價格會差異到多大呢?以東方美人茶為例,好的東方美人茶一斤(600g)介於台幣一萬到兩萬之間,而比賽得獎的則是一斤 5~60萬 都有。

那比賽茶葉就一定比較好喝嗎?
客觀來說….是,比賽茶的層次細緻、豐富又甘甜,但是不一定是你會喜歡的風格。如果你喜歡口味飽滿風格高山茶,那你喝到得獎的金萱可能會有點失望。

最後就是零售商拿到茶菁後,會不會自己再花力氣做獨特的乾燥、烘焙或薰香,或是找烘茶師來代工,這部分也會影響到售價。

所以綜合以上原因,從每一產季的品質與產量變化、茶農盤商與零售商是否誠實、要花多少力氣在管控風味、是否比賽得獎、是否做最後的烘焙或薰香。這些都會大大影響到最後的價格。

那會建議消費者要如何選擇茶葉呢?

把這個困難的任務交給茶店吧,他們的任務是從茶農與盤商中選擇出適合的茶葉,因此如果你喝到喜歡的茶葉,能夠信任那個茶店或電商,可以多跟他聊,請他幫你選擇適合的茶葉。