STiR coffee and tea magazine

50 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 3, 2018 (June / July) D By Dan Bolton Tea kneading machines (rollers) ready to ship from a Chinese manufacturer in Chengxiang, China. Mechanical Evolution uring the past century tea gardens grew larger and larger to benefit from ef- ficiencies in land and labor. Multi-national tea companies then established in- tegrated supply chains that delivered consistency and volume at prices pleasing to commodity buyers at convenience, drug store, and global grocery outlets such as Tesco, Aldi, Walmart, and Carrefour. The result is export prices that average US$3.50 per kilo in Kenya and $4 per kilo in India. Wholesale prices for the domestic markets hover around $2 per kilo in Kenya and India despite rising farm costs. Even Darjeeling's fabled CTC grades earned an auction-average $4.80 per kilo in 2016 against an all-India average of $2.07 per kilo. In 2017 prices for export quality teas at the Sri Lanka auction in Colombo averaged $4.27 per kilo, the highest average in the world, which ultimately led to a decline in exports as countries like Russia took advantage of more favorable pricing. The downward trend in prices for commodity tea (and coffee and cocoa) makes it clear that large-scale farms are unsustainable, a trend likely to continue given that the World Bank estimates a global average of $2.81 per kilo of tea in 2018 rising a pittance to $2.83 in 2019 and another penny to $2.84 per kilo in 2020. Manufacturing consultant and Teacraft founder Nigel Melican, says the "argument for sustainability is incontrovertible–but reality (geopolitical apathy, procrastination, and time pressure of events) may make it difficult to achieve." Thinking small The century now unfolding promises greater rewards for artisan producers. The evi- dence is seen in growing volume and record prices for small quantities of specialty teas. Consumers seeking quality, variety, and convenience are driving the tradition-bound tea industry to produce many different styles of tea. These are primarily sold by tea merchants, tea houses, natural food stores, and in specialty coffee shops. Wholesale prices vary greatly, but always exceed commodity prices. Small-scale factories have learned to exploit this advantage. Artisan factories profit using semi-automatic processing machines that create teas that closely resemble hand made This panning machine is designed to deactivate enzymes in fresh tea leaves. It is powered with either biogas or liquefied gas and manufactured by Fujian Gemini Machinery Co., Ltd., Quanzhou City, Fujian, China Photo courtesy Lry Roon/Fujian Gemini Machinery Co.

• Cover