Processing and Marketing of Tea

Transcription

1 Chapter Thirteen Processing and Marketing of Tea 13.1 PROCESSING BY SMALL FARMERS HOW CUSTOMERS JUDGE TEA QUALITY MARKETING For best results, farmers should consider working together To get the best price for their tea, farmers must achieve both high quality and consistent quality. In other words, buyers must be able to trust that the quality of the tea will not change from one batch to another. Both quality and consistency can be improved when neighboring farmers work together as a group or as a cooperative. Organizing into a group helps in each step of tea production: Growing the tea following the guidelines for IPM or organic production is easiest when several neighbors all follow the same guidelines. For example, neighbors can share labor to make compost, and neighbors can work together to manage pests without having to worry about pesticide drifting in during applications by non-ipm neighbors. Processing the tea as a group creates a larger volume of tea. This can make it more affordable to pay a fee for high-quality processing (for example, to pay an individual who is very skillful at processing green tea, or pay a factory to process all the tea into black tea and then return it to the group). Combining everyone's tea before processing also "balances out" any small differences in taste or color between different farmers. This increases the consistency, so that a buyer will always receive the same quality when he or she buys from the group. Marketing the tea can also be easier for a group than for individual farmers. A group can invest in high-quality labels and even in advertising. Also, a group can afford to pay a fee to someone to take responsibility for selling their tea (for example, to contact buyers, give them samples of the tea, etc.). And, with a larger volume of tea, a group has more power to negotiate with buyers for a better price. To get a good return from your tea, you must produce a high-quality product that meets the preferences of your customers. So, even before plucking, you should know who your customers will be, and what they want. In other words, before plucking, tea growers (or their representatives) should meet with traders, processing plants, or other customers to discuss market preferences. The first step in producing high-quality processed tea is growing high-quality fresh tea (see Chapters Five through Twelve). You will be able to produce high-quality dry tea only if you have: planted a good variety of tea bush, cared for the tea bushes and the soil to produce a healthy vigorous crop, and plucked it correctly. 244

2 Indeed, the preferences of some customers may require planting special varieties of tea bushes, or may require special plucking Processing by small farmers The type of processing will depend on the preferences of your customers. Customer preferences and marketing are discussed in Section 13.3 (below). Most tea drinkers in Viet Nam prefer green tea, which can be processed directly by small farmers. However, the biggest market world-wide is for black tea (especially, black tea packaged into tea bags). Black tea (and "half-fermented" teas like Oolong) must be processed in a tea factory. So, if small farmers want to take advantage of the world demand for black tea, they must sell their fresh tea to a processing factory, or pay a factory to process their tea Processing for green tea Green tea is prepared by heating it so that (unlike black tea), it does not ferment. Heating the tea leaves (by roasting, steaming, or boiling) deactivates an enzyme inside the leaves, preventing the enzyme from causing chemical changes. Therefore, after heating, the tea keeps the green color and the chemical content of the fresh tea leaf. The steps in processing green tea are: 1. Plucking fresh leaves, and storing them until processing 2. Fermentation stopping 3. Rolling 4. High temperature drying 5. Low temperature drying (may include flavouring) 6. Classification 7. Final roasting 8. Packaging and labeling Each step is discussed below. But, processing tea is like cooking a meal: you cannot learn it by reading about it, you have to learn by doing it, with an expert there to teach you. Ask farmers who is the best tea processor in the nearby villages. Then, try to get that person to come facilitate a training exercise about processing. Before starting, decide whether the tea processor will receive an incentive for working as a facilitator. For example, perhaps the tea processor could receive all the tea processed during the training exercise (farmers would donate the fresh tea). 245

3 What is an enzyme? An enzyme is a special type of protein (a protein is a type of natural chemical that contain nitrogens). Enzymes are special because they work like tiny factories. Like factories, enzymes use raw materials to make a product. Enzymes link together several chemicals (their raw materials) to produce a new type of chemical. The enzyme "polyphenol oxidase" is found inside the leaves of tea. This enzyme is like a factory that works to link together chemicals called "polyphenols" with oxygen, producing new chemicals called "theaflavines" and "thearubigines". This chemical process (polyphenols combining with oxygen) is called "fermentation". The chemicals produced by fermentation (theaflavines and thearubigines) are what gives black tea its colour and flavour. Like other proteins, enzymes can be damaged by heat. To picture this, think about cooking an egg: the clear liquid protein of the egg is changed drastically by the heat (it becomes hard and white). We can take advantage of enzymes' susceptibility to heat when we process tea. When making green tea, the processors heat the tea leaves by roasting or boiling, to deactivate the enzyme "polyphenol oxidase". After the enzyme has been deactivated, it will not produce any theaflavines or thearubigines. Therefore, the tea leaves stay green. 1. Storage between plucking and processing The details of how to pluck are explained in Section 6.3. Plucking should be done in the morning so that processing can begin the same day. Quality will be highest if you process the fresh tea within two hours after harvesting. If you wait until the next day to process the tea, the quality will be much lower, because fermentation will have begun. During and after plucking, be careful not to bruise or damage the fresh leaves. For example, do not compress (pack down) the leaves in the harvesting baskets. Keep the fresh leaves out of the sun, in a cool well-ventilated place. 2. Fermentation stopping This is the most important step in processing. The goal is to heat the tea to stop fermentation (see the box, above). If the fermentation is not completely stopped, the tea liquor will be red. Many farmers heat tea inside a rotating drying drum (see pictures on next page). But, some farmers heat tea inside a wok, or on a metal sheet above a fire, or by steaming in a cauldron of boiling water (see pictures on the following pages). Whichever method of heating you use, fermentation stopping should be done as quickly as possible. Specifically, the tea should be heated quickly until it reaches a temperature of about C (the temperature of boiling water). To achieve this with a drying drum, the temperature inside the drying drum should be kept at about C. Or, if you are using boiling water to steam the tea, then the metal basket containing the fresh leaves should be dipped in the boiling water for seconds. After fermentation stopping, the tea buds should be soft, easy to bend, and should not break when bent. They should have a light green color. 246

4 Metal vanes push tea in or remove tea from drum when rotation is reversed Grooves to mix the leaves Small holes to let out hot air Rotating handle (or electric motor) Put in firewood Brick structure to support drum and contain fire Typical tea drying drum. Problems include that drum is made of low-quality steel, and fire is only partly enclosed so heat is not evenly distributed. Source: adapted from FAO Crop Diversification and Export Promotion Project Working Paper 1. Grooves to mix leaves Temperature gauge and timer to control operation Brick chimney to remove smoke Brick oven completely encloses drum Metal vanes push tea in or remove tea as drum rotates No holes in back of drum Put in firewood Improved tea drying drum. Thanks to the sealed stove, heat is uniform and intense in all parts of the drum. Drum is made from stainless steel to avoid heavy-metal contamination. Temperature gauge and timer ensure optimum level of heating. Source: adapted from FAO Crop Diversification and Export Promotion Project Working Paper

5 Semi-improved tea drying drum. Design is similar to the second drawing (above), although this drum lacks a temperature gauge, and the metal quality of this drum is unknown. Source: original photograph by Michael Zeiss. A note about quality: how to improve tea drying drums Marketing experts say that, to compete successfully in the world market, Viet Nam should focus on improving the quality of its tea (see Section 13.3, below). One way to improve quality is to improve the design of drying drums. Many drying drums have the following weaknesses (see the first drawing on the preceding page): 1. Drum made from galvanized steel, which starts to corrode after a few years, contaminating the tea with heavy metals (zinc and iron). 2. Heating is not uniform (hotter in some parts of the drum than in other parts), because the drum is not enclosed inside an oven. 3. Control of heating is not precise, because there is no temperature gauge. So, each batch of tea is different. 4. Tea becomes contaminated with smoke, because the drum has small holes in the back for ventilation. To avoid these problems, and improve the quality of the processed tea, processing experts recommend using drums that are made from stainless steel (do not corrode). The drum should not have any perforations in the back, and should be completely enclosed in a brick or clay oven. The oven should have a chimney to vent the smoke away from the tea (see the second drawing on the preceding page). And, it is best to have a temperature gauge so that every batch of tea can be processed the same. Of course, this type of drying drum is more expensive. But the investment should be more than repaid by the higher quality of the tea, and the longer life of the stainlesssteel drum (7-10 years). 248

6 Metal lid for safety and to conserve heat Metal cauldron (diameter 1 m, depth 1 m), filled with water kept constantly boiling Opening to put in coal (below ground level) Coal to heat water Handle to dip basket into boiling water for seconds Wire basket (diameter 80 cm, depth 80 cm) Steaming method for the fermentation-stopping step of processing green tea. Source: adapted from FAO Crop Diversification and Export Promotion Project Working Paper

7 Drying tea on a metal plate above a fire. Source: original photograph by Koen den Braber. 3. Rolling (sometimes called "squeezing") The objectives of this step are: To break open the cells inside the tea leaf, releasing their contents into the leaf. This ensures that, when put into hot water, the contents of the tea leaf (such as tannin) will dissolve into the water. To roll the tea buds into cylinders or balls. This reduces the volume of the tea, and makes it more resistant to breaking. It is possible to use hands, feet, or other manual methods to roll tea. However, manual methods can contaminate the tea by adding too much moisture and requiring too much handling. Instead, it is recommended to roll tea using a mechanical roller. A mechanical roller is something like a mill; it includes a ridged plate at the bottom, a container to hold the tea above the plate, and a weight or piston to press the tea down onto the plate (see picture on the following page). The tea container rotates above the plate, causing the tea buds to be rolled when they pass over the ridges. Rolling with a mechanical roller takes about 15 minutes. Even with a mechanical roller, care is needed to avoid contaminating the tea. After each use, the roller should be cleaned to remove all pieces of leaves and juice from the tea. Otherwise, bacteria and fungi will grow inside the roller, and contaminate the next batch of tea. Like a good-quality drying drum, a mechanical roller requires an initial investment, but will probably repay the investment by producing tea that is higher quality and cleaner. 250

8 One model of mechanical roller for tea. Source: original photograph by Michael Zeiss. 4. High temperature drying The rolled tea is placed in the drying drum with a fairly hot fire, so that the tea itself is kept at a temperature of about C. The drum should be turned slowly, to avoid bruising the tea and turning it a gray color. But, it should not be turned too slowly, or the tea will scorch. Continue high-temperature drying until the tea has dried out to about 40-45% water content. As a rough estimate, this will take about 15 minutes. But, it is better to make your decision based on % water content (see the box, below). Some processing experts recommend passing tea through the mechanical roller at least once more during the drying process. 5. Low temperature drying (and scenting if desired) Once the tea has reached about 40-45% water content, reduce the heat of the fire. Continue turning the drum slowly but not too slowly. Try to hold the tea at a temperature of C. Continue drying the tea at this temperature until the tea reaches a water content of only 4-5%. As a rough estimate, this will take about 30 minutes. But, it is better to make your decision based on % water content (see the box, below). If desired, the tea can be scented during low-temperature drying. Some of the most popular plants for scenting are jasmine, chrysanthemum, and lotus. Consumption of scented green teas has been increasing dramatically in recent years, especially in the south, and now accounts for about 10% of tea consumption within Viet Nam. 251

9 What does "percent water content" mean? It means, what percent of the total weight of the tea is from the water in the tea. It is a precise way of measuring how much progress you have made during the tea processing procedure. But, instead of actually measuring % water content, you should learn to recognize it from the characteristics of the tea (how it feels, smells, etc.) To actually measure percent water content, you need a scale and an oven (or some other way to dry the tea): 1. Weigh the tea (a handful or a cupful of tea buds). Write down the weight. 2. Dry the tea that you weighed until it is completely dry. If you are not sure if it is completely dry, weigh it a second time, dry it some more, then weigh it a third time. If the weight of the tea went down, that means that it lost some more water (the heavy water evaporated and went up the chimney). Keep drying and weighing until the tea does not lose any more weight. 3. Weigh the completely dry tea. Write down the weight (it should be less than the wet tea). 4. Use this formula to calculate % water content: % water content = 100 x (wet weight) - (dry weight) wet weight For example, if the wet tea weighed 100 grams, and the dry tea weighs 70 grams, then the % water content of the wet tea was: 100 x (100 g) - (70 g) = 30% 100 g Is this a useful measure during tea processing? No, not directly!! The reason is, while you are busy processing your tea, you cannot take time to weigh and dry a cupful of it just to measure how dry it is! Instead, you must learn to recognize the % moisture content indirectly. For example, if you squeeze the tea in your hand, does it stick together, or does it keep its shape? What about color or smell? To help farmers learn to recognize % water, dry 7-8 samples of tea until they reach different amounts of % water (about 60%, 50%, 40%, etc. down to 5%). Then, have farmers examine each sample (feel, smell, etc.). Farmers should write down their own guidelines about how to decide what % moisture a sample of tea has. Will these guidelines be true for every variety of tea? Will they be true for tea that is rolled with a mechanical roller and also for tea that is rolled manually? 252

10 If you plan to scent your tea, then harvest or buy the flowers that you will use the day before you will process tea. Buy flowers that are only half-open, so that they will open fully on the day that you will process the tea. In Viet Nam, farmers often use about 200 g of jasmine flowers to scent each 1 kg of tea. For a strong scent, use a weight of flowers equal to the weight of your tea. Note: if you are selling organic tea, then the flowers used for scenting should have been grown organically (no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers). To scent the tea, remove the tea from the drying drum and let it cool. Spread a thin layer of tea on a clean plastic sheet on a clean floor or in a shallow trough. Cover the tea with a layer of flowers. Continue to make layers of tea and flowers until all the tea is used. The top layer should be tea. Leave it for 6-12 hours. Then, use sieves to remove the flowers from the tea. Dry the tea in the drying drum to remove the moisture absorbed from the flowers. Repeat these steps if needed for a stronger scent. This same procedure can be used to scent black (fermented) tea. 6. Classification The purposes of classification are: To separate the higher-grade tea from the lower-grade tea. One of the criteria used to judge tea quality is the grade (in other words, the physical size and form of the pieces of tea; see Section 13.3 for more details). Usually, you will make more money by sorting your product by quality, instead of mixing all the qualities together (see Section 13.3, below). To ensure that all the tea in a specific grade has a similar size. Some processors use mechanical classifiers (grading machines). Many farmers classify their tea by sieving it through several bamboo baskets. The most valuable grade is the mediumsized buds and leaves, which fall through the basket that has the largest openings. The largest leaves, which do not fall through, have a lower value. The very small pieces of broken leaves, which fall through all the baskets, have the lowest value if the tea will be brewed in a teapot (though it is worth noting that the very small pieces are prized for use in tea bags). 7. Final roasting If you plan to sell the tea immediately, after classifying you should put each grade of tea back into the drying drum (do not mix the grades together!). "Roast" the tea at a relatively high temperature for a few minutes, turning the drum slowly. But, do not allow the tea to scorch. This final roasting gives the tea a good flavour. If you plan to store the tea for several weeks or months before selling, do not do this final roasting. Instead, see the section on "storing of processed tea" (below). 8. Packaging and labeling Tea can be packaged into packages of different weights, depending on the preferences of your customers. Wrapping needs two layers. The inside layer should prevent humidity from entering. The outside layer should protect the inside layer, and also gives you an opportunity to label the tea. Packaging should be convenient and attractive for your customers. Also, if a farmer (or a village or cooperative) has invested a lot of effort to produce high-quality tea, they should consider using a distinctive label so that buyers can easily recognize their tea. See 253

11 Section 13.2 (below) for specific recommendations on how to improve marketing by using attractive packages and distinctive labels Processing for black tea About 60-70% of the tea grown in Viet Nam is used to make black tea (almost all of this is exported). Black tea is prepared by allowing it to ferment for about 2 hours before heating to stop fermentation. During fermentation, new types of chemicals are produced inside the leaves. These new chemicals change the color and the flavour of the tea. For more information, see the box entitled "What is an enzyme?", above. Fermentation is done in large fermenting troughs, where airflow and temperature can be carefully controlled. Mostly for this reason, black tea can only be processed in a factory. So, we will not give much details about the processing here. Instead, as part of the training: Make arrangements for farmers to visit a processing factory. During the visit, ask the manager or workers to explain the process. Although processing black tea requires machines, it is nothing mysterious. Tea farmers should understand it to help them understand their marketing options. To help farmers understand what they are seeing when they visit a processing factory, here are the steps in processing black tea: 1. Plucking fresh leaves, and storing them until processing 2. Withering (to dry tea until it reaches 45-55% water content; done in large withering troughs with air blown through the tea. Takes 6-14 hours.) 3. Crushing or rolling (sometimes in powerful machines that crush and tear the buds) 4. Fermentation (2 hours, in fermentation troughs) 5. Heating and drying (to stop fermentation, then dry tea until it reaches 4% water content) 6. Classification 7. Packaging and labeling The details of how to pluck are explained in Section 6.3. Plucking should be done in the morning so that processing can begin the same day. Quality will be highest if you process the fresh tea within two hours after harvesting. If you wait until the next day to process the tea, the quality will be much lower, because fermentation will have begun. During and after plucking, be careful not to bruise or damage the fresh leaves. For example, do not compress (pack down) the leaves in the harvesting baskets. Keep the fresh leaves out of the sun, in a cool well-ventilated place. During the drying process (step #5), black tea can be scented using the procedure already described for making scented green tea. 254

12 Processing for half-fermented teas (Oolong or Poochong) Oolong and Poochong teas can be prepared only in factories. So, they are more similar to black tea than to green tea. But they are different from black tea in two ways: 1. They are fermented for only half the amount of time as black teas (1 hour instead of 2 hours fermentation). For this reason, they are sometimes called "half-fermented" or "semifermented" teas. 2. They are made only from whole leaves. In other words, their processing does not include the vigorous crushing that many black teas go through. So, after processing, Oolong and Poochong have a large twisted leaf, brownish in colour, which produces a light-green slightly copper-coloured liquor. Only a small amount of Oolong is produced in Viet Nam (mostly in the south). Most factories use only certain special varieties of fresh tea to make Oolong. In case farmers have the chance to visit a factory that makes Oolong, the steps in processing are summarized here: 1. Plucking fresh leaves 2. Sun drying (to dry tea until it reaches about 80% water content; takes about 30 minutes) 3. Withering (to dry tea until it reaches 55-60% water content; done in large withering troughs with air blown through the tea. Takes 6-8 hours.) 4. Rolling/squeezing in a normal table roller (the same roller as used for green tea). After rolling/squeezing, allow the tea to air-dry for minutes. Then, roll/squeeze again. Repeat this until the tea has been rolled/squeezed 3 times. 5. Fermentation (1 hour, in fermentation troughs) 6. Heating and drying (to stop fermentation, then dry tea until it reaches 4% water content) 7. Classification 8. Packaging and labeling As was described on the previous page for black tea, careful handling and storage of the fresh tea leaves before processing is very important Storing of processed tea As for most agricultural crops, the price of tea is lowest during peak harvest months. For example, during peak harvest, tea might sell for VND /kg. A few months later, the same tea might sell for VND /kg. Prices are highest at Tet, when they might reach VND /kg. Therefore, if you can store tea for a few months before selling it, you might be able to sell it for a higher price. The problem is, tea quality can go down during storage, reducing its value. 255

13 Storing tea will not be suitable for every farmer. If you decide to try storing some of your tea, storing it correctly will increase your chances of making a good profit. The recommendations for storing green tea are: 1. If you are going to store tea before selling, do not roast it at a high temperature after classifying. Instead, after drying and classifying the tea, place the tea in a clean sack. Most farmers use sacks made from burlap or plastic (polypropylene). Polypropylene bags are not suitable, because they cause the tea to "sweat" and therefore result in the growth of mold in the tea. The best container for the tea is bags made from metal foil or metallic paper, to prevent moisture and smells from entering the tea. This type of bag is expensive. But, it might be a profitable investment, because tea stored in metallic bags keeps its quality better during storage. Do a small experiment to compare the profitability of ordinary bags versus metallic bags. Or, are there local materials that keep water out but that are cheaper than metallic bags? Include these in your experiment. 2. Store the bags of processed tea in a cool, well-ventilated area. Keep them far away from the walls, the floor, and from any strong smells. 3. Just before selling, remove the tea from the bag and roast it briefly at a relatively high temperature in a drying drum. This is the roasting that usually comes after classifying the tea How customers judge tea quality Of course, all customers use the cost of the tea to help them decide which tea to buy. But, many customers do not simply buy the cheapest product. Instead, they are willing to pay a little extra for good quality. Therefore, understanding how customers judge tea quality is an essential first step towards marketing (which is discussed in Section 13.3, below). There are at least three criteria that customers may use to judge tea quality (and therefore, to decide how much they are willing to pay for your tea): 1. The nature of the processed tea itself (flavor, color, size of the dried buds, etc.) 2. How the fresh tea was produced ("clean" and organic tea, variety of tea bush, type of plucking, etc.) 3. The way that the tea is packaged (labels and brands, loose or in tea bags, etc.) Each of these three criteria is discussed below. How important is each of the three criteria to your customers? The only way to find out is to ask your customers. For more information about studying customer preferences, see the section on "marketing" (Section 13.3, below). 256

14 The nature of the processed tea The nature of the processed tea includes flavor, color, the size of the tea pieces, and other physical and chemical characteristics. These characteristics are caused by: the variety of tea bush the care that was given to the tea bushes and the soil how often the tea was plucked (only very young leaves, or coarse plucking, etc.) the processing procedure. Most customers agree on the physical characteristics that are desirable, and on many of the chemical characteristics. Because most customers agree, these characteristics are used to define types or grades of tea. Most customers would pay more for the highest grade, or would choose to buy the highest grade if all were available at similar prices. Table 1 summarizes the minimum standards that all grades of green tea must satisfy. Table 2 shows the additional characteristics that are used to define the grades. Table 1. Some of the minimum physical and chemical standards for green tea, as established by Vietnamese Standards Bureau. Characteristics Required level Proportion of water-soluble extracts 34 % or higher Proportion of tannin 20 % or higher Proportion of caffeine 2 % or higher Proportion of contamination by iron (ferrous alloys) 0,001 % or lower Proportion of contamination by other metal alloys 0,3 % or lower Humidity (% water content) 7,5 % or lower In addition to the standards shown in Table 1, all green tea must satisfy the hygiene indicators required by the Ministry of Health. Finally, all green tea must comply with internationally established limits on pesticide residues. Most tea that is exported is sold through VINATEA, which reportedly always tests the tea for pesticide residues. However, for tea sold for consumption within Viet Nam, pesticide residue testing is less systematic. 257

15 Table 2. Indicators for classifying green tea into quality grades, as established by Vietnamese Standards Bureau. The weights given to the various indicators: appearance 25%, colour of liquor 15%, smell 30%, taste 30%. Grade type Special Type or Orange Pekoe (OP) Pekoe (P) Broken Pekoe (BP) Broken Pekoe Small (BPS) Fannings (F) Appearance of tea** Natural green, long leaves, equal in appearance and curly with little velvet Natural green, long leaves, equal in appearance and curly Natural green, the leaves are shorter than OP tea, rather curly Natural green, the broken pieces are smaller than P tea, rather curly Natural grey and green, rather equal in size, smaller than BP Grey and yellow, small and rather equal in size K i n d o f l i q u o r (t e a w a t e r) : P i e c e s o f t e a : Colour Smell Taste % broken % of dust pieces (tiny pieces of tea leaves) Yellow and Natural Gentle heavy 3 % or lower 0,5 % or less green, light in strong smell taste, having (a whole-leaf colour with the taste after grade) fresh smell swallowing Yellow and Natural and Gentle bitter 3 % or lower 0,5 % or less light green rather strong taste (a whole-leaf smell grade) Yellow and Natural smell Gentle bitter 3 % or lower 0,5 % or less light taste, having (a whole-leaf taste after grade) swallowing Yellow and Not having Gentle bitter 10 % or 1 % or less rather light the typical, taste, having lower natural smell taste after swallowing Rather dark Not very Bitter 10 % or 1 % or less yellow strong with lower little smell Dark yellow Light smell Strong bitter Not 5 % or less applicable ("fannings" are small flat pieces of broken leaves and tips) 258

16 ** Note for Table 2: When judging the appearance of fresh tea (not yet processed), tea testers measure the quality characteristics called A and B. A quality refers to how easy it is for the tester to break the stem of the shoot by bending it between his or her two hands. Buds with high A quality are soft, shiny, and fresh, and have thin stems that can easily be broken. B quality refers to how mature the shoot is. Shoots with high B quality have thin (young) stems and no more than 2 leaves below the bud. Shoots with lower B quality are more mature, with more than 2 leaves or with longer thicker stems. Most customers probably would pay more for a higher grade (for example, would pay more for Orange Pekoe grade than for Broken Pekoe Small). Or, if all grades were available at the same price, most customers probably would choose to buy the highest grade. So, a general goal for all tea growers is to produce the highest possible grade of tea. However, there are important exceptions. For example, different customers may have different preferences for the size of tea pieces. Fannings grade is considered a low grade mostly because its pieces are too small for making tea in a teapot. Nonetheless, factories that package tea into tea-bags (for making single cups of tea) are happy to buy Fannings grade. The reason is, Fannings often contains many pieces of the tips of the shoots, which are the best-tasting parts. In the same way, different customers often have different preferences about the taste of tea. Most tea-drinkers in Viet Nam prefer green tea with a high concentration of caffeine and tannins. These natural chemicals give tea its briskness and strength, but can also make the taste a bit bitter. In contrast, most tea drinkers in Japan prefer green tea with less caffeine and tannins. For this reason, a tea company in Dong Hy District of Thai Nguyen Province covers the tea bushes with cloth mesh for 4 days before plucking. This reduces the tannin content of the shoots, making them more valuable for their Japanese customers. Another example is that, for black tea, customers in the Middle East prefer black tea that has a strong liquor, but customers in the Russian Federation prefer black tea that has only moderately strong liquor. So, tea farmers should learn the "universal" standards of tea quality, but should also find out the preferences of specific groups of customers for the nature of the tea (size, colour, taste, etc.). Different customers also may have different preferences about the other two criteria for judging quality: (1) how the fresh tea was produced and processed, and (2) the way that the tea is packaged. These two criteria are discussed below How the fresh tea was produced and processed The way that the fresh tea was produced and processed is something that cannot necessarily be seen or tasted in the dry tea. But, it can be just as important as color or taste in determining the price of your tea. Anything that can help distinguish your tea from the many other teas on the market, may help improve your sales. For example, some customers might prefer to buy tea that was processed in stainless-steel drums, to avoid metal contamination. Or, customers might prefer tea that was plucked using fine-plucking to give the best flavor. In particular, tea farmers in Viet Nam may be able to attract customers by producing fresh tea in a way that reduces risks to human health and to the environment. Each year, scientists discover new risks of pesticides and other agrochemicals. So, it is not surprising that worldwide, customers are becoming more interested not just in how a product looks or smells, but also in how the product was produced.. 259

17 The "Rau Sach" (clean vegetable) programs can serve as a possible model for tea farmers. Rau Sach programs promote the production and marketing of "clean" vegetables... Some provinces have opened special shops that sell only "clean" vegetables. Some customers are willing to pay slightly higher prices for "clean" vegetables. Or, if ordinary and "clean" vegetables are available for the same price, customers will buy the "clean" vegetables, leaving the ordinary vegetables unsold. However, an aspect of the "Rau Sach" programs that needs to be strengthened is the procedure for inspecting "Rau Sach" farms so that customers can be confident that the farms are actually following the guidelines. If tea farmers start producing "che sach", then they should consider developing an inspection system so that customers will believe the tea truly is clean. A more strict alternative to the "Rau Sach" model is for tea growers to switch to organic production, and have their farms certified by an organic certifying organization. The advantage is, customers who are interested in organic tea will buy only from certified farms, because they trust the certifying organization to make sure that the certified farms are following the rules for organic production. There are several organizations in Asia that certify farms as organic. Organic production, including the rules and procedures for certifying your farm, is discussed in Chapter 14. For some customers, "how the fresh tea was produced" includes all aspects of the production. Is the health of the soil conserved? Do the workers who pluck the tea receive a fair salary? For example, to market organic tea to customers in Switzerland, a company in northern India included information about the complete history of the crop, from planting to packaging. Of course, we hope that tea farmers will use good practices because they want to protect their health, their land, and their workers. But if you are already using good practices, why not tell your customers about them? The way the tea is packaged In most countries, the way a product is packaged greatly affects which product a customer chooses, and how much a customer will pay. First, the packaging must be convenient. For tea, this includes the size and weight of the package, the type of packaging (waterproof and tough enough for easy transport), and perhaps other factors. Convenience also includes the way the tea will be prepared; the largest international market is for tea already packaged into individual tea-bags, for brewing single cups of tea. Second, the packaging should be attractive. Using a box or bag of a pretty color, or with a pretty picture, can be very important to convince a buyer that your tea is high-quality and deserves a high price. This is especially important around Tet, when many people buy tea for gifts. Third, packaging should be clearly labeled. With just a glance at the label, the customer should be able to see if the tea meets his or her preferences. Preferences almost certainly include the grade of the tea (Table 2). But, perhaps the label should also say something about how the fresh tea was produced or processed. Anything that can help distinguish your tea from the many other teas on the market, may help improve your sales. Examples of production or processing that might justify special labeling include: Planting high-quality varieties of tea bush Using less pesticides Organic tea (no pesticides and no synthetic fertilizers) 260

18 Fine plucking for best flavour Reducing metal contamination by using stainless-steel drying drums Scenting the tea during processing High-quality and easy-to-recognize labels may allow you to charge slightly higher prices. Or at least, they may reduce competition for you (allow you to sell your product even when your competitors cannot find buyers). Of course, sellers must guard against fraudulent labels of other producers, to ensure that buyers have confidence in the information that appears on their labels. Do Vietnamese customers care about quality? Of course! Some people say that Vietnamese customers think that all tea is the same, and only look for the cheapest tea. But if you think for a minute, you will realize that this is not true. Some examples of teas that are always in demand in Viet Nam, and always command a high price: Tea from Bao Léc (a town in Lam èng Province between Ho Chi Minh City and Dalat). When customers see "Bao Léc" on the label, they automatically think "high quality", and most are willing to pay a higher price. The tea producers in Bao Léc know very well that Vietnamese customers care about quality! "C y a" brand green tea from Thai Nguyen. Other farmers in Thai Nguyen (and Phu Tho!) should work to achieve the same "name recognition" for the tea from their cooperatives. Perhaps their quality is as good (or sometimes better?) than "C y a". Tea from Moc Chau (in Son La Province) often sells for a high price because of its reputation for high quality. Cafes that serve Dilmah brand tea. Customers go to Dilmah cafes as much for the service as for the taste of the tea. This is a good example of customers judging quality based on other criteria besides just the nature of the tea itself! But regardless of how they judge quality, Dilmah customers seek out Dilmah cafes instead of other cafes, and are willing to pay a little extra for a cup of Dilmah-brand tea. 261

19 13.3 Marketing One of the most promising ways for tea farmers to earn more money is to improve their marketing. It is important to remember that there are no guarantees in marketing; it is always possible to lose money. So, please remember that to improve your family s economy, it is also important to: Keep your production costs low, to reduce debts. Diversify your economic activities (possibly including growing some food crops, and earning some income from off-farm activities). Despite this warning, improving your tea marketing (including investing in improving the quality of your tea) can be an important tool for earning more income. There are four steps in improving the marketing of any crop: 1. Identify possible customers. 2. Find out what the customers want. "Quality" means different things to different customers. Most customers probably will agree with the international grading standards, which are limited to the nature of the processed tea (color, size, flavour, etc.). In addition, some customers might have preferences about how the fresh tea was produced, processed, or packaged. Customer preferences change over time, so it is important to stay up-to-date. 3. Sort your production to match your diverse customers. Growers probably will make more money if they sort their tea by quality before marketing. This allows each type of product to be marketed to the group of customers that most wants it. If you just mix all your tea together, to produce only a single medium-quality product, you usually will not make as much money. 4. Over the medium and long term, improve your quality to match what your customers want. This may include investing in new varieties of tea bushes, new processing equipment, reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides, etc. Each of these four steps is discussed below Identify possible customers One of the government organizations with a mandate to explore marketing opportunities is the VTA (Viet Nam Tea Association). VTA headquarters is located within the office of VINATEA (the Viet Nam Tea National Corporation) in Ha Noi. Farmers should work with VTA authorities to learn more about customers and marketing. In addition, three nongovernmental organizations (CIDSE, SNV, and CECI) are working to help tea farmers in Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho understand the preferences of potential customers. Customers within Viet Nam Almost all tea consumed within Viet Nam is green tea. However, even within Viet Nam, the consumption of black tea is increasing. For example, the "yellow label" Lipton black tea is well-known and increasingly in demand. Also, the Dilmah brand of flavored black teas has become very popular in Viet Nam cities in the past few years. In addition, the consumption of scented teas is growing rapidly. Farmers need to remember that customers' tastes change over time. Therefore, farmers need to change their production practices and marketing to keep up with customers' tastes. 262

20 Marketing of tea to match customer preferences is not yet very developed within Viet Nam. At present, most tea is not clearly identified or labeled. The situation is made worse by fraudulent labels. For example, because Thai Nguyen is famous for high-quality tea, much tea is labeled as tea from Thai Nguyen, even if it was produced and processed in other provinces. Nonetheless, there are opportunities for marketing. First, most people agree that customers seek out (and will pay extra for) high-quality tea during the Tet holidays. And even during the rest of the year, some well-known brands of tea command higher prices, at least in the big city markets. For example, Moc Chau, C y a, Bao Léc, and Dilmah teas often sell for high prices because of their reputation for high quality. In tea shops in Ho Chi Minh City, there is a big difference in price among the different varieties, from approximately VND /kg for the cheapest variety to VND /kg for the best-grade variety (or even VND /kg. if the tea has been scented with herbs). So, even for green tea sold to customers in Viet Nam, proper marketing can improve farmers income. Customers in other countries About half of the tea produced in Viet Nam is exported. Most of the tea sold for export is sold through VINATEA (the Viet Nam Tea National Corporation), a state-owned enterprise with headquarters in Ha Noi. VINATEA has many processing factories in Yen Bai, Phu Tho, and Thai Nguyen Provinces. VINATEA also operates a tea packing plant located near the Ha Noi airport. World-wide, the biggest market is for black tea (especially, black tea packaged into tea bags to brew individual cups of tea). So, it is not surprising that, of the tea that Viet Nam exports, about 75% is black tea and only about 25% is green tea. At present, the main customers for exports of Viet Nam black tea are the Middle East, followed by the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation. Customers in the Middle East prefer black tea that has a strong liquor, such as the teas produced in lowland coastal areas. In contrast, customers in the Russian Federation prefer black tea that has moderately strong liquor. At present, the main customers for exports of Viet Nam green tea are China, Taiwan, and Japan. However, in the future, customers in other countries may begin drinking more green tea (including Europe and the U.S.). The reason is, recent publicity about the usefulness of green tea in preventing ulcers and stomach cancer. If people start drinking green tea for health reasons, they will probably be particularly interested in organic green tea. A very small amount of Oolong (half-fermented) tea is produced in small, privately-run factories, mainly in the south. Oolong tea represents a very small proportion of the total world market, but is very popular in France and in the U.S. The main producer of high-quality Oolong tea is the China Province of Taiwan. Marketing experts say that, to increase exports, Viet Nam needs to focus on improving the quality of its tea. The quality of the fresh leaves before processing, and the quality-control during processing, are both low compared to international standards. So, tea farmers should cooperate with government efforts to improve quality. 263

21 Study what the customers want (and teach customers about quality) Most customers probably will agree with the international standards shown in Table 2. But, as was discussed above, different customers prefer different things. And, the nature of the tea is only one of three criteria for judging quality (the other two are how the fresh tea was produced and processed, and how the tea is packaged). How important is each of the three criteria to your customers? The only way to find out is to ask your customers. For example: ask potential customers to fill out questionnaires about what criteria they use to choose teas conduct taste tests for potential customers, so that they (and you) can learn about their preferences ask for feed-back from companies or individuals who have bought your tea in the past. Once you understand what criteria your customers use, you can try to teach them to use additional criteria. In other words, consider using publicity to teach potential customers about the special qualities that your tea has (for example, to teach customers about the benefits of organic tea). Publicity about tea quality (including the way that the fresh tea was produced and processed) could include: meeting with traders or buyers from companies or supermarkets advertising on radio or in newspapers displays or posters at markets or in regional fairs many other possibilities. It may be difficult for an individual farmer to study customers or to do publicity. But farmercooperatives, village associations, or VTA (the Viet Nam Tea Association) could study customers and do publicity. In addition, three private voluntary agencies, CIDSE, SNV, and CECI, are working to help tea farmers in Thai Nguyen and Phu Tho understand the preferences of potential customers. In particular, for technical help with studying customers and doing publicity, you may wish to contact: Business Support Center 1, Nguyen Du Street Thai Nguyen City Telephone: (0280) Fax: (0280) Sort your production to match your customers In most crops in most countries, growers make more money if they sort their product by quality before marketing. This allows each type of product to be marketed to the group of customers that most wants it. A small amount of high-quality product will usually give more income if it is marketed separately to customers that will pay more for quality. If you just mix all your tea together, to produce only a single medium-quality product, you usually will not make as much money. So, separate your tea into categories that match the preferences of your customers (for example, one category with the best flavour, another category with the lowest price, etc.). 264

22 Improve your quality to match what your customers want In the long term, you should not be content with just sorting your products according to quality. Instead, you should work to improve the quality of your tea. Improving quality may require you to change the variety of tea bush that you plant, the way that you grow your tea, or the way that you pluck. But, if you have a clear idea of what your customers want, then investing in improving quality almost certainly will be profitable. But: each group of customers wants something a bit different; each has a different definition of "quality". Which type of customer should you try to satisfy? At first glance, it may seem that you should try to satisfy the biggest group of customers (the most common type of customer). But, this is not always true. The reason is, most other tea farmers will be trying to satisfy those customers. So, if you try to satisfy this same group of customers, you will be competing directly with most other tea farmers! This is especially dangerous if most customers want the cheapest tea possible. If you are forced to compete with many other farmers to make your tea as cheap as possible, you almost certainly will not make much money. To reduce competition, your best strategy may be to focus on a smaller group of customers that few other farmers are satisfying. Often, that means focusing on quality instead of on producing the cheapest possible tea. One example of a market that is not yet being fully satisfied is the market for flavoured (or scented) tea. Flavoured teas are made by adding fresh plant leaves or flowers to the tea during the drying process. Some of the most popular plants for flavoring are jasmine, chrysanthemum, and lotus. Consumption of flavoured green teas has been increasing dramatically in recent years, especially in the south, and now accounts for about 10% of tea consumption within Viet Nam. A second example of a market that is not yet being fully satisfied is the group of customers who are interested in organic tea. The organic market is still relatively small, but is growing quickly. Worldwide, most organically-grown tea is made into black tea (not surprising, because most tea drinkers world-wide drink black tea). However, as was discussed above, recent publicity about the health benefits of green tea also may increase demand for organic green tea. For a summary of how to convert your tea production from conventional to organic production, see the next chapter. We will end this section the same way we began it: by warning that marketing will not solve all your problems. Keeping your costs low, and diversifying your economic activities, are also very important. The reason is, there are no guarantees in marketing. Even with the best marketing, it is possible to lose money. 265