Hard times and tea consumption

What are the consequences of the actual financial crisis for China’s tea industry? This article titled “The Chinese tea industry during the financial crisis” (金融危机下的中国茶产业) deals with this question.

First the facts: the exports of Chinese tea have been dropping lately. So the obvious answer is that the global financial crisis has led to diminishing exports of Chinese tea. There is hardly any economic region or sector that has been untouched; so it would have been a real surprise if it wasn’t so.

The point the author of the article is trying to make is that in some ways this crisis is a chance for the Chinese tea industry.

He starts by making a quite severe depiction of the state of the industry, irrespective of the financial crisis: too many products don’t have the organic quality standards required for exportation; China lacks big tea companies with universally recognised trademarks; and China’s own tea consumption is too small compared to its production. If China’s tea industry was to work on these weaknesses, it would withstand the current crisis much better.

Today’s crisis is an opportunity for two reasons. First it forces the Chinese tea industry to face the mentioned problems and solve them. Those companies who will succeed in this, will come out stronger. The second opportunity can be illustrated from history. The first time tea became very popular as a drink during Chinese history was after the Anshi Rebellion (755-763) during the Tang dynasty. After this very troubled period, people needed peace of mind and comfort. They turned towards Buddhism to find it. The spread of Buddhism also popularized the habit of drinking tea, since tea plays an important role in Chan (禅) Buddhism.

Actually all three Chinese religions or schools of thought (Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism) do have a use for tea. As this other article notes, their use of tea is not exactly the same; but it always stresses harmony and calm.  These are qualities very much in demand in times like now. According to Zhou Zuoren (周作人), drinking tea offers you a little escape from a busy life and lets you enjoy a bit of eternity for a short while.

The comfort benefit of tea is not something only perceived in China as documents released last year prove:

“Now it has emerged the role of the great British cuppa was so important in the 1950s that one of the main fears was that the country would run out of tea. (…) Such was the severity of the situation that officials – drafted in to draw up contingency plans for food supplies in the event of a nuclear war – recommended that tea was rationed to just 1oz per week, half the ration imposed during the war and enough to make one or two weak cups a day.”

All this shows that tea consumption might not drop and could maybe even increase as a result of the actual financial crisis. Tea producers should grasp this opportunity.

Chinese sources: 金融危机下的中国茶产业; 中国人和谐与茶道与太极之变