By Jane Pettigrew

Are tastes in Chinese and Taiwanese teas around the globe changing? Are consumers keen to buy organic? Do they care about ethical issues? Are they influenced by packaging styles? Tea & Coffee Asia discusses the latest trends in consumption of Chinese and Taiwanese teas.

With a growing interest in specialty teas all around the world, retailers and consumers are discovering the extensive range of different categories of teas produced in China and Taiwan. Some companies are beginning to seek out the less well-known and truly rare teas while others are experiencing an increasing demand for all teas from these areas. Some tea producers are developing new types of tea to tempt and thrill tea drinkers. And some of today’s consumers have other issues on their mind beyond just the character and quality of the tea itself.

What’s being drunk in China and Japan
Within China, it seems that most people in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces on the east of the country prefer green teas such as Dragon Well, whereas in the south darker oolongs such as Guangzhou Phoenix Dancong and Da Hong Pao are preferred.
Don Sun of Ecrossland has noticed that: “Puerh and Tie Kuan Yin oolong are less popular than before and for the past two years black tea is finding a place in the hearts of Chinese consumers.”
A black tea from the Wuyi region, Kim Chun Mei (Gold Precious Eyebrows) sells at tens of thousands of Yuan and Keemun black, which used to sell at RMB70 (US$10.95) per kilo, now sells at RMB200 per kilo. So while some Tie Kuan Yin farmers have given up because of lack of demand, sales and prices of black teas are booming. “All over the country, people are trying black tea and a lot of small companies are increasing their sales of black varieties,” Don explained.
With its multi-cultural, forward-looking society, Taiwan is seen as a good testing ground for new products, as Thomas Shu of ABC Tea explains about his native land.
“In Taiwan, people will try anything new! Just go there every six months and you will find something different – even in tea packaging and tea wares.”
 The most popular teas in Taiwan’s domestic and export markets are currently Jade Oolongs and Pouchongs, and imports of black, green, and jasmine teas for food service and for making Ready-To-Drink (RTD) products are also up to a record breaking 31,000 tons this year.
But over the last two years, Taiwan tea has been experiencing a new wave – ‘Brandy Oolongs’. This series of teas made from Taiwan’s most famous cultivars (Jin Suang, Chin Shin Oolong, and Ruby 18) are named for their wonderful, rich amber color and drunk by connoisseurs from brandy glasses. The newly developed Formosa Bonita (technical name FB27) and two others (Ruby 18 and FB74) are heavily oxidized oolong teas that have a strong ‘cultivar’ character in aroma, flavor and taste.
“They’re suitable for drinking straight, without sugar, honey or milk,” explains Shu. “These teas are the new favorite and will become Taiwan’s treasures along with Wenshan Pouchong, Oriental Beauty, Classic Tung Ting, Gaoshan Jade Oolong, Baked Amber Oolong and Aged Oolong. The younger generation thinks the Brandy Oolongs are very ‘cool’ and really love them!”

Development
What’s the story behind the development of these new teas?
They are made to use the summer crop of tea shoots which are usually ignored by many oolong farmers. In order to make their famous high quality Jade Oolongs, they need the better quality, tender young leaves and leaf buds that are gathered in the spring or autumn and so the summer harvest is often wasted. The only farmers who have in the past valued the summer crop are producers of the valuable Oriental Beauty oolongs, made after the annual infestation of the bushes by tiny leaf hoppers whose presence is vital to those teas’ fragrance and delicacy. So even in a summer when the insects come in small quantities or do not come at all, the farmers now have a way of using the summer harvest to make teas that are attracting a lot of interest and high prices.
In Japan, tea drinkers are actually consuming less Chinese tea at the moment because of their concerns about the use of pesticides in China.
Naoko Yoshida of Suciela Tea College in Hyogo says that: “many Chinese tea shops in Japan have closed in the past three years, but a small number of dedicated Chinese tea lovers buy very good quality high mountain Chinese and Taiwanese teas.”
Takeshi Isobuchi, Japanese tea writer and consultant, agrees.
“Chinese tea is not popular among tea drinkers but Taiwanese oolongs sell well,” Isobuchi reported. “Some beverage companies are importing Chinese oolong and green tea for RTD products.”
The Japanese market can be divided into three tiers.
“The most important sector is RTD teas, which are drunk by consumers who perceive them as healthy products but are not really interested in tea,” explained Yoshida. “The supermarket sector is second in importance and attracts shoppers who are concerned about prices, convenience and health. The third tier is made up of small retailers whose customers care about quality, safety and health.”

North America, Europe and Latin America
In the US and Canada, interest in China teas is widening.
According to Dan Robertson of The Tea House in Naperville, Illinois, “Teas of all kinds are in demand. Green teas continue to grow in popularity but oolongs and puerhs are also making big strides. Western drinkers prefer the darker oolongs - Wuyi rock teas like Ro Gui, Xiao Hing Pao (often sold as Da Hong Pao) and the Dan Cong oolongs from Northern Guangdong province are also starting to be recognized over here. Staple teas – Gunpowder, Dragon Well, Yunnan, Keemun blacks, Silver Needle, etc. still take a major chunk of the demand but the new generation of teas is making its mark – teas like Golden Horse Brow (Jin Jun Mei), only created during the past decade or so, are wildly popular in China – look for this trend to continue.”
Brendon Wey, a Canadian tea entrepreneur, is finding similar patterns.
“In the past year or so there has been an increased demand for darker oolongs that are blended with fruits, nuts and other natural additives,” Wey said. “The same is true of puerh because of its perceived ability to reduce blood cholesterol. People who have been drinking the ‘standards’ for most of their life are now branching out into other varieties of Chinese and Taiwanese teas.”
Best sellers in the UK and Europe are still Long Jing, Chun Mee, gunpowder, Jasmine Pearls, loose puerh, Taiwanese balled oolongs, and Silver Needle and White Peony white teas.
According to Jennifer Wood of London’s Canton Tea Company, “Consumers of specialty teas are becoming more sophisticated and adventurous and are trading up, discovering new, more interesting teas. In addition, foodie and health trends are still driving growth for us.”
In Latin America, people are just beginning to discover tea and best sellers include Long Jing, High Mountain oolongs, Chun Mee and Gunpowder.
Victoria Bisogno, of Charming Blends in Buenos Aires and president of Argentina’s ‘El Club del Té’, sells her teas and hosts regular tasting events and training sessions in Argentina, Brazil, and Uraguay. She is seeing a growing interest.
“Consumers here are focused on tasting different teas,” Bisogno told Tea & Coffee Asia. “They want to try new types of tea – whites, Chinese blacks, puerhs, and greens – but people tend to buy more blends than single origin teas.”

Other factors influencing buying patterns
Real tea aficionados obviously focus on quality, freshness, aroma and taste and many are happy to pay a high price for the teas they love.
But decisions about what to buy are sometimes based on totally different issues. For example, in Argentina, Bisogno has found that packaging is extremely important.
“I have changed my design several times,” she revealed. “My female customers in particular love collecting tins and caddies and like to compare the style of the different brands. They also like to know the background to the tea – how the leaves are harvested, who makes the tea, how the workers are treated in the factories, etc.”
But few people in Argentina mention organic or Fairtrade certification and appear to make their choices based simply on the flavor and quality of the teas.
In China, tea is very important in the gift market and producers know that they will sell a certain amount of gift teas each year. Most people buy local teas for this purpose and prices are all relevant to the local economy and to the wealth and position of the purchaser.
And, although in some parts of the world organic certification and ethical trading credentials can help clinch the deal, these issues are not usually a part of the equation in China.
As Don Sun explained, “Those who buy a lot of tea gifts – government agencies and enterprise customers - are not concerned whether the tea is organic; they care only about their status in society and the grade and cost of the tea. But average consumers sometimes buy gifts too and organic certification and details about the tea’s origin and manufacture are powerful selling points.”
The main concern for tea lovers in Taiwan is quality above everything else. But, as Thomas Shu added: “A traceability system is gradually being introduced and promoted, ISO22000 certification is gaining more attention and more tea factories are registering to be certified organic. Although there are several local organic certification schemes, we are encouraging more gardens to become certified under international organic bodies. And one tea group in Wenshan district is committed to the preservation of clean water for residents of Taipei City metropolitan area. Their tea garden is located right above the city’s water reservoir and their commitment to organic tea goes beyond the tea itself.”
While traceability, ecological issues, tea education and food safety are of concern to the Taiwanese, fair trade does not appear to have provoked much interest.
And, as in China, tea gifts are becoming more important and more expensive, so stylish packaging and presentation are influencing the choices made by local businesses and tourists. Airport shops and retail outlets in 5-star hotels choose very creative and artistic packaging, including ABC Tea’s Tea Stories, a gift pack that has been designed to look like a book but actually contains six tins of different loose leaf teas.
In Japan, it seems that people are very interested in a tea’s provenance, who made it, how it was made – just as with wine.
But, as Takeshi Isobuchi explained, “Importers and customers are not interested in Fairtrade when they are buying Chinese and Taiwanese teas, although they are concerned about it when they buy Indian or African teas. And they are very interested in the traceability of teas and other foods.”

A thirst for knowledge in North America
With the economy as it is at the moment, especially in the US, people are buying fewer teas and less of them. But they still want quality and variety and they are concerned about the human and environmental factors too – mainly because of worries about contamination of some Chinese food products – and they really have to juggle price versus quality and safety in their own minds.
Lower cost teas that are mass-produced raise more concerns about such issues as pesticides, organic practices, and labor, whereas higher end teas are often higher grown without plant protection agents (PPAs) and therefore pose fewer problems.
As Dan Robertson explains, “US consumers are very slowly learning about the various programs and have moved from a ‘safer for me’ to a ‘good for the environment’ and a ‘good for the workers’ attitude but without necessarily understanding the issues and effects of such schemes. If a customer thinks that quality and price are the same, they will more than likely choose a fair trade product over a non-fair trade product. And the same is true of organics. Their knowledge is quite superficial and decisions are made on perceptions rather than facts.”
In Canada, consumers are becoming better informed about the use of PPAs and so organic certified teas are becoming more important and easier to find now.
“A decade ago, it was hard to find an organic, high quality Long Jing, for example,” commented Brendan Wey. “But now, most tea shops have some form of this on their shelves.”
And Tao Wu of Tao Tea Leaf store in Toronto has found that: “If people are drinking tea for health reasons, they worry if it’s organic or not. If they love tea, they drink it anyway! And people ask a lot of questions about the teas – where is it from, how is it made, how should I brew it, etc.”
There is definitely a thirst for knowledge and when a dealer or retailer can give detailed information about each tea on offer, customers become much more enthusiastic and are more likely to buy those teas.

Packaging, price and provenance
For specialty tea drinkers, the packaging is less important than the quality of the tea and, as Dan Robertson comments, “If you’re going to sell top quality teas from the ‘conventional’ containers behind the counter, you will need to shift the customer’s focus to the product and your knowledge of it. If not, invest in great packaging!”
Brendan Wey agrees that: “Packaging should have very little to do with it - everything hinges on the vendor’s ability to explain and present the tea. A great cup of tea will sell itself and customers need to know that it’s a mistake to think that just because a product comes in beautiful packaging that it is bound to be a good tea.”
But in Europe, packaging seems to play a very influential role.
Chiara Bedini of Babingtons in Rome says that: “packaging influences at least 50% of customers’ choices”.
In Spain, Per Sundmalm finds that customers in his East West Company stores “are very influenced by packaging and presentation and of course also by the personal service and knowledge of the staff.”
And at London’s Canton Tea Company, Jennifer Wood’s experience is that: “retail customers are hugely influenced by packaging because they don’t always have access to the background information about the company or the tea. We work very closely with our retail partners to ensure that we get the look and feel of the packaging right for them. However, our online customers want minimal, practical packaging.”
Quality, price and provenance are the main concerns for most people, while organic and ethical trading do not seem to be of significant concern.
Jennifer Wood finds that her customers “are thirsty for more information about tea, and provenance is important for them. But knowing that tea is bought direct from smaller artisan producers is more important than buying from a large corporation with a Fairtrade label.”
, “We try to give customers as much information and tea knowledge as possible and we think this is very important,” according to Per Sundmalm. “But here in Spain, Fairtrade has not yet become an issue and we do not consider it as one of the main reasons to buy or not buy a tea. We think that our clients trust our brand to guarantee good standards.”

Deeper understanding
So it seems that, all around the world, tea drinkers are trying new categories, new types of specialty teas from China and Taiwan and while they taste and learn about cultivation and manufacture, about the people who pluck and process those teas, about the different regions and provinces, they are deepening their understanding, not just of the tea but of the industry and the challenges it constantly faces.
Consumers are fascinated and captivated by the story behind the tea and are much more likely to buy if the retailer or website gives as much detailed information as possible.
For some buyers teas must be organically grown, ethically sourced, fairly traded and beautifully packaged, but the crucial factors that sway most purchasers’ decisions are quality and price.