"Crazy tea market", who is behind the hype?
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Recently, the topic of "a cake of tea can buy a BMW" has been on the hot search, which has aroused the media's attention to stir-fried tea... People have discovered that the people who stir-fried tea eventually took the greatest benefit, and many people were cut Leeks.
In this regard, experts pointed out that it is not a good thing to use price as a lever to promote tea. Such high-price speculation will not bring local benefits, but will cause damage to the brand.
For the tea market and tea lovers, the launch of spring tea is a big deal.
This year, tea has once again staged a frantic frenzy.
A few days ago, the topic of "a cake of tea can buy a BMW" appeared on the hot search, which aroused the attention of consumers and the market.
Insiders pointed out that the sky-high price of tea is usually "buyers do not drink, drinkers do not buy."
It is understood that the phenomenon of fried tea has been around for a long time, and almost all kinds of tea have been hyped up, especially Pu'er tea.
Under the operation of the "cha-cha-man", it has gradually become a product of "futures" and "stocks".
How is the high-priced tea made?
"Workers Daily" reporters interviewed tea roasters, tea dealers, industry insiders and experts.
"High-priced tea" is not uncommon
The phenomenon of fried tea is not new.
In the 1990s, 1 catty of Tieguanyin tea king sold for 30,000 yuan; Jin Junmei was fired to more than 70,000 yuan per catty when he was the highest.
In recent years, Pu'er tea has become the representative of "investment tea" and "financial tea". The price of a cake of Pu'er tea that has been on the hot search recently ranges from 280,000 to 320,000 yuan.
Zhao Mingxin, a fried tea expert, said: "This is only a mid-range price in the fried tea market. At present, a "banzhang six-star peacock green cake" is worth about 840,000 yuan."
Mr. Hong, the owner of a tea shop in Chaoyang District, Beijing, introduced that the tea should be luxuriously packaged, the products should be "named", the beautiful marketing copy should be written, and gimmicks such as "scarce", "masterpieces" and "not for sale" can be made for speculation. Push up product prices, ranging from a few thousand yuan per catty to hundreds of thousands of yuan.
"More buyers are used to give gifts. During the tea season, old customers call one month in advance to book the goods. As long as they can issue an invoice, they generally do not delve into the quality of tea, and the packaging is high-quality. That's it." Mr. Hong said.
According to industry insiders, taking rare tea products such as "Niulankeng Cinnamon" as an example, its production area is small, the output is low, and the output is small. However, it is not uncommon for high-priced rock teas on the market to be sold at slightly higher-end tea shops. .
"Nowadays, many people are in the business of imitating'Niulankeng Cinnamon' tea. They buy ordinary cinnamon tea or other varieties of tea, after roasting and processing, labeling'Niulankeng Cinnamon', and then selling them at high prices. "
Is the quality of "expensive tea" really "matching gold"?
Experts in the industry believe that the gap between tea in the same producing area is unlikely to be too great.
Even if it is an ancient tea tree, although its growth environment and nutrient absorption are indeed better than those in tea gardens, the difference in taste and quality will never be as ridiculous as the price.
Using price as a lever to promote tea is not necessarily a good thing. Such high-price speculation will not only bring local benefits, but will harm the brand.
Crazy "stir-fried tea circle"
Zhao Mingxin, who lives in Beijing's Daxing District, has been roasting tea for more than two years.
According to him, the code, K-line, index, opening of positions, shorting, and futures form a "one-stop" process.
In the circle of fried tea, fried tea is more and more like stocks.
According to industry insiders, the model of fried tea is that big players control the upstream industrial chain, monopolize industrial production, speculate to raise prices, and hoard old tea to drive up the price of new tea.
Through auctions, they sell and buy on their own. In the later stage of stir-frying, the demand for finished tea is already in short supply, and "future tea" has begun to appear.
"The big players in the dealership are naturally the ones who make the most profit. They plan carefully, organize shipments, strictly categorize dealers, control their shipments, and then speculators dump the goods in large quantities to make the most profit. In the end, people It was discovered that the greatest benefit was taken away by the people who fry the tea, and many people were cut off the leeks." The industry insider said.
According to Mr. Huang, the owner of a Dayi tea shop in Maliandao, Beijing, “futures trading” has emerged in the tea circle for Dayi tea products that have not yet been listed.
Investors trade at an estimated price. People who are optimistic about the trend of this tea will "go long", and those who are not optimistic about it will "short".
"Some offline stores will also participate in the investment of chafing tea customers. Some people can store the tea in the store after buying it, and then sell it after the price increase. The store can also help with the delivery." Mr. Huang said.
Consumers must not fall into the "stir-fried tea" black hole
Mr. Huang said that futures trading is very risky.
"In private futures transactions, the two parties have never met and signed a contract. Many 10-day and 15-day futures are not available until the last day of the order, and they ran away."
There will be a crash when there is a phenomenon of fried tea.
Mr. Huang recalled that in the first half of 2007, due to the drought, the output of Yunnan Pu'er tea was cut by half, so a large number of tea merchants came to rush to buy it, and the price was constantly being driven up.
At the highest time, 1 catty of Pu'er tea sold for 400,000 yuan.
"When the market is accelerating, it is when the big speculators run away from the top, and then many medium speculators followed suit. Because once there is no big speculators' left-handed bidding, the price will naturally fall back soon. In addition, the price of Pu'er is very high. , The consumption base was shaken and the price dropped.” Mr. Huang said that in just six months, the Pu'er tea market collapsed, and the price plummeted to the price of cabbage.
A large number of tea processing plants went bankrupt, and tea farmers suffered heavy losses.
Then in 2013, Pu'er tea experienced skyrocketing and plummeting with the same "routine", and the painful experience is vivid.
Changjiang Yongwen, deputy director of the Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that the buyers of high-priced Pu'er tea are firstly people with extremely high consumption power, secondly speculative authors, and thirdly gift givers.
"Those who buy do not drink, and those who drink do not buy", this type of consumption is prone to breed unhealthy trends.
According to Tian Xiance, a lawyer at Heilongjiang Longxin Yinlong Law Firm, bubbles are piled up behind the seemingly profitable fried tea.
"This speculation method is not protected by the contract law and is extremely risky. Because of the lack of evidence, it is difficult to defend rights."
Some experts pointed out that if any industry is kidnapped by hype, it will not be able to achieve healthy development, and the tea industry is no exception.
In particular, the government of the tea producing area should have a long-term vision, effectively squeeze the bubble of tea production and marketing, and guide enterprises to tell the market the true ecology and true value of local tea, rather than relying on "storytelling" to follow the trend.
"Tea is for drinking, not for stir-frying. It is the law of the market if you drink tea or not. As a consumer, rational consumption is the key. Don't blindly follow the trend, otherwise you will fall into the black hole of tea-stirring."
Zhou Yi
Zhou Yi