Why does tea cost so much?

grouchy as I want to be

It all started with this innocuous query on twitter:

@lahikmajoe maybe u can blog about acceptable prices? I'm a loose leaf newbie. My 1st purchase, I paid a lot! I realize I need to research
— Brian F(@BRFoo) April 30, 2012

Sounds like a simple enough request, right? 'Why does tea cost so much?' Why, indeed. 'What're acceptable prices?'

I'm afraid I can only give a small sliver of the answer. My knowledge of the tea industry is only from the perspective of the end user. The customer.

someone better qualified

When I have questions like this, I often turn to Xavier (@teaconomics). He studied economics, and has a mind for such things. When he and I visited tea shops in Nice earlier this year, he had a very logical and well thought out response to 'Why does tea cost so much?'

If you don't know his blog, you really should take a gander here: Teaconomics.

He writes about where tea and economics meet (hence the blog's inventive name). Although I couldn't begin to create the in depth analysis he does, I find his writing compelling and tend to celebrate whenever I see a new blogpost over there.

Having dealt with the reality that there are economic factors that make tea expensive, now I can get on to my more emotional response. And the way I'll begin my answer to whatever financial rationalisation you throw my way is with one simple declarative word: Bollocks!

Yes, it's a commodity. I understand that this is a product that comes from a plant, and that growing conditions can make for a myriad of hassles and unforeseen circumstances. There are tea auctions and logistics to bring the sacks of tea to your country. If you've got a stand alone shop, there's rent and overhead and I could go on and on about that part of the argument.

but wait just a minute

However, I continue to disagree. I believe tea doesn't have to be so dear. It really doesn't.

The impression I get is that tea is marketed and sold as a luxury item. That means it's purposely priced highly and intended to be viewed as something to be valued. I understand that and if I thought it was the actual tea growers who were getting the inflated profits, I might be more sympathetic.

From what I've heard and read, that's rarely the case. The sometimes obscene prices go primarily to those who have marketed it. I'm not against marketing at all.

I'll be in the United States again later this May, and I danced around this topic when I was there last year. It's something I'm sure I'll write about more extensively. The good news for Brian and others tea newcomers is that many of us are constantly on the lookout for reasonably-priced tea.

Is that really too much to ask?

(photo source: Source of Inspiration)

tea monkey infuser

The longer I take part in this teablogging lark the more curious tea-related stuff I find. This I found a while back in Nice, and I knew I'd include it here at some point.

It's a bit of a stalling technique to be completely honest. Went to a Bio Messe in Nürnberg yesterday, and there was more than enough tea. Tea companies, and health food companies that have tea brands, and different countries promoting their tea industry.

But the thing is: it was a bit much. It's going to take me a bit of time to sift through all the information. So that's why you're getting my distraction blogpost. Look at the shiny tea monkey infuser.

I had the last leaves of a nondescript Keemun, and it was the perfect amount for a cup of tea. The tea monkey infuser was practically making monkey sounds in desperation that he be used.

ooh ooh ooh

taking a dip

I crammed the tea inside, clasped it shut, and several minutes later I had the perfect cup of tea.

It really was a nice cup of tea. I did spend a bit of time wondering what material the thing was made of (It's not a real monkey, you know?).

But it looks like stainless steel, and although there are probably studies that say stainless steel is a dangerous material in which to cook (or steep) things, it's probably too late for me to worry about such warnings.








And here we are after all that hard work...a photo of the cuppa and the very satisfied looking monkey.

The Tea Effect over at Indonique

spring flowers for after the hurricane

Wanted to dip into Katrina Ávila Munichiello's new book The Tea Reader last week in the build up to her book party.  But I got distracted by the beautiful weather at the weekend and then Lisa Galaviz and her trip to the monkey-picking tea shop.  If you read Lisa's account that I spoke of here recently, you can see how hard it was for me to stay focused on what I'd wanted to cover.

Nevertheless, I'd mulled over what new treasure I wanted to share from the many I found in Katrina's book and finally decided on The Tea Effect by George Constance.  I should be up front about the fact that this wasn't the first contact I'd had with George and his love of tea.  

Years ago, when I first decided to get more serious not just about drinking tea but writing about it as well, George was one of the first tea people I reached out to.  I knew him only as @Indonique over on twitter, and he was quite generous with advice about what books might help me on my quest of understanding tea better.  

Here I am flipping through the pages of The Tea Reader, and I find an essay that George has written about the shop and Hurricane Katrina and everything before and after those things intersected.  Most importantly, he recounts how they came up with a term for the positive impact tea had had on their community.  

The backstory of the shop was that he'd originally had the idea of selling wholesale tea to cafes in New Orleans.  No-one was interested, so he and his wife/partner Daya opened up their own tea shop/cafe in Magazine Street.  

Slowly, other cafes in the area wanted to be a part of the tea scene.  Over to the leaf-side, as it were. And they wanted tea only from Indonique.  Reading this account, I feel the pull and I'd like to try some of that very tea.

This attraction and desire to be a part of something positive in the community is what they call the Tea Effect.  Now I have to rely on George's words to tie this up:

'Post-Katrina, we considered ourselves fortunate--fortunate that we live in a wealthy nation that offered a place to which we could evacuate, and the help of friends and family to rebuild our lives.  So many around the world don't have these resources.  Tea-producing regions in particular are vulnerable.  The tea industry does little to alleviate this.  Indonique was rebuilt with this in mind.  We pledged to return 10% of every sale we make to the communities that pick our tea through Non-Governmental Organizations like Mercy Corps that can most effectively make change and provide oversight.  Our accounting records are open and our website is dedicating percentages to organizations that fight the trafficking of children.  We believe that if all industries did the same, we could alleviate poverty, disenfranchisement, extremism and the need for large military expenditures.  We're rebuilding Indonique as a cause.  The trick for us is to recreate that Tea Effect, so easily obtained in our shop, and duplicate it in cafes and retailers around the nation, to make the cause as infectious as the Tea Effect.  We're in discussions now with brokers and venture capitalists to do just this.  Perhaps the storm that caused so much misery will lead to something that will alleviate misery everywhere.

Fingers crossed.'

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Another thing I found about Indonique tells the whole story in much more detail.  You can find it here:

Cause Capitalism

If I haven't already said it, you really should get your own copy of The Tea Reader.  Really.