With the arrival of the new tea season, the first transaction of this year was held at the market in Shizuoka City, and the highest price of hand-kneaded tea was nearly 2 million yen per kilogram, a record high.
The first transaction started after 7 am at the Shizuoka Tea Market in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka City, and the number of participants was reduced to about half of that before the corona disaster to prevent infection.
The "middleman" flips the abacus and shows the amount to the sellers such as producers and agricultural cooperatives and the buyers such as tea wholesalers, and when the transaction is completed, the sound of "hand-made" echoed in the venue by the three people clapping their hands three times at the same time. Was there.
The highest price was the hand fir tea "Samidori" produced from "JA Fuji Izu", which was created by the merger of eight JAs this month, and the highest price in 2019 was 1,968,000 yen per kilogram. It exceeded 570,000 yen and reached a record high since the first transaction started in 1957.
According to the Shizuoka tea market, although the temperature and precipitation are stable and growing steadily, the average unit price is about 5,000 yen per kilogram, which is about 800 yen from last year because the amount of picking decreased due to the rain on the 17th. It's getting higher.
One of the producers, Masataka Ota (81), seemed relieved, saying, "We are making tea that can be safely and safely drunk in mountainous areas. I am glad that the price was reasonable."