An unusual cold spell affecting major tea areas in Fujian, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces has meant a dramatic decrease in supply of spring tea, reported Beijing Business Today on April 25, but retailers say they have absorbed increased costs for low and medium grade teas rather than pass them onto customers.

“We have dealt with the adverse effect inside the corporation, rather than shifting it to consumers,” said a spokesperson from Zhangyiyuan Teashop in Beijing.

Maliandao is a Beijing street famous for its specialist tea shops. Spring tea appeared 20 days later than usual in Maliandao’s stores, and prices for premium teas have risen 30-40 percent as a result, but lower grade leaves in retail giants such as Zhangyiyuan and Wuyutai have remained constant.

Xihu Longjing (West Lake Dragon Well) tea is a famous green tea produced in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Leaves picked before the Pure Brightness Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, in early April were sold at 11,200 yuan (US$1,353) per kilo when first available, nearly twice last year’s price of 6,000 yuan (US$725), and the price has remained high in Wuyutai.

In Zhangyiyuan, only the price of the first batch of Xihu Longjing increased conspicuously compared with last year, while others remained the same despite being available on the market late.

A salesperson at Wuyutai said of lower grade teas: “The price of newly-arrived Biluochun is divided into six grades from 440 yuan (US$53) to 2,000 yuan (US$242) per kilo, nearly the same as last year; Zhuyeqing is sold at 600 yuan (US$72) and 720 yuan (US$87), also the same compared with last year.”

Both Wuyutai and Zhangyiyuan have their own tea growing fields and this spring’s output from them has decreased.

A manager from the Huiren Tea store said the wholesale price of several kinds of tea in various grades all increased by 30-40 percent, and the higher the grade of tea is, the bigger the increase.

(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, April 30, 2005)