Jun 2nd, '16, 02:21
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by Bok » Jun 2nd, '16, 02:21
Another interesting article I came across today:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ ... 2003647707
Interesting excerpts out of it
Random inspections of the more than 30,000 tonnes of tea that Taiwan imports annually showed that between 3.5 and 3.9 percent contain pesticide residues exceeding legally permissible levels
and
The three countries that had the highest failure rates were India, Japan and Vietnam, with failure rates of 8.1 percent, 7.7 percent and 4.6 percent respectively
Surprising that Japan is one of the higher ones!
On the whole another reminder of how large the possibility is that what we buy as good Taiwanese Oolong, actually is sub-standard (or blended with) from other countries… buyers beware! 30,000 tonnes!
Not surprising by any means when you see how small Taiwan is on the whole and especially the area which can grow tea. Add to that how much Tea the Taiwanese consume themselves, you can guess how much is left to export.
Jun 2nd, '16, 08:31
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by jayinhk » Jun 2nd, '16, 08:31
Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing!
Jun 2nd, '16, 10:16
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by ethan » Jun 2nd, '16, 10:16
The percentages of the imported teas broken into categories show oolong is hardly imported. Yet, if a country not famous for oolong manages to produce a wonderful one, subterfuge may be quite a temptation to get into Taiwan where it can be sold for a higher price. Still the odds are pesticides are not too high for most of our purchases.
I guess that a lot of the imported tea is for local consumption. A lot of tea is drunk almost like water & a lot is used for bubble tea. The much higher wages for labor on tea farms in Taiwan than for workers in most countries does not allow the price of tea to get so low for tea produced in Taiwan.
Lin Mao Sen Tea Co. in Taipei sells a black tea from Sri Lanka for 60 NTD per jing. That = 1 NTD for 10 grams of tea or about 1 USA cent for 3 grams. I was told it is only bought by restaurants that serve it for free. At the same shop the most expensive black tea sells for 2400 per jing. (40 x more) That is quite a difference between cheapest import & good quality domestic.
