Thursday, March 12, 2020

Novel Coronavirus and Chinese Tea Vendors



I've been reading articles about how the novel coronavirus has impacted the tea industry, and decided to find out how tea vendors have been faring. To start, I sent questions to various people selling Chinese tea to see how their business has (or hasn't) changed since the outbreak began in China.

Before we get into what I learned, let me be clear: this isn't an article about COVID-19 with regards to health or safety issues. This is an article focusing on Chinese tea vendors and how they have been impacted by the virus. Of course other vendors around the world have been affected as well, but I decided to limit the interviews to keep the post within reason. The people I interviewed are just a few small examples of how this pandemic is affecting tea.

As I mentioned, I thought I would check in on a few Chinese tea vendors to see what their tea-selling experience has been like lately. I had the chance to correspond with 5 tea vendors, and ask them a few questions. Below I've shared some of the answers I received- please note some of these interviews were done 1-2 weeks ago so responses may already be a bit outdated:

Glen, from Crimson Lotus Tea:

Have you heard concerns from your customers regarding the coronavirus and buying tea/teaware?
We've heard concerns from a few customers, but not many. I think we were ahead of the curve in awareness and posted information to social media and our website early. (https://crimsonlotustea.com/blogs/news/china-post-shipping-update-and-concerns) There is little to no reason to be concerned about getting the virus from a package since the virus can't live for long outside of a biological host.

Have you noticed a change in sales since the onset of the coronavirus?
I think that we're starting to. Not so much from fear of contamination but because there is so much uncertainty and delay for orders shipping from China. Nearly all of our orders are fulfilled and shipped from our warehouse in Kunming, Yunnan, China. We have seen very few packages successfully delivered since quarantines started a few weeks ago. Many packages get returned and others are just stuck. Again we wanted to be open with our customers and have warned them as soon as we started to see issues. We've ramped up the ability to ship from our Seattle inventory to compensate.

What is your biggest concern about the effects of the coronavirus on your company?
Obviously our first concern is with the safety and well being of our associates in Yunnan and all the citizens of China. This is a scary time for everyone and if it is safer to wait a few more weeks for packages to be delivered then to try to rush deliveries and maybe increase infection we're all for delaying things. We have a really amazing group of customers and we feel that they understand and agree with our values. It's going to be a difficult year for anyone whose business has any tie to China. We'll do what we can and see where it goes.

Are you concerned that the virus will have an impact on your business in the long term?
We do have our concerns. It's not so much the virus itself but the long term economic effects for the whole world. The ripple effects of the impact to the Chinese economy could be long lasting and far reaching.

Paul, from white2tea:

Have you noticed a change in sales since the onset of the coronavirus?
It’s been more or less the same for us. Some customers have expressed concerns, but I think most people understand that a virus would not survive a week or more journey without a host, so it’s been pretty typical business for white2tea /teaware.house other than the shipping delays.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about the Chinese tea industry related to the effects of the coronavirus?
One thing to consider is whether workers will be able to safely pick and process tea during the spring. With travel between provinces and countries hampered by the virus there is a possibility that workers will not be able to travel safely or have safe work environments. That being said, China has taken some aggressive measures to get the situation under control; hopefully that will help both China and the rest of the world keep the situation under control.

 

Jonah from Bitterleaf Teas:

Have you heard concerns from your customers regarding the coronavirus and buying tea/teaware?
We received a number of questions during the Coronavirus. It has died down a little more recently (end of February), but early on it was daily. The concerns ranged from whether there is risk of infection by buying products from China, to whether we are continuing to ship orders or whether China Post/Customs are still processing orders. We had the same response each time, which has been that there is 0 risk, we are operating (almost) as normal, shipping 1-2 times per week in order to minimize how much time we spend outside and that China Post and Customs are operating as normal. For us, we let our employees stay in their hometowns and my partner and I processed all orders ourselves. We also didn’t hear anything from China Post about delays, and haven’t experienced any yet, based on the packages that have been sent since late January.
Even with all of this, we’ve noticed misinformation and unnecessary concern still popping up online.

Have you noticed a change in sales since the onset of the coronavirus?
We have noted a significant drop in sales since the start of this scare. This is obviously not something we like to see, but it is to be expected. We have tried to stay positive and accept that it will be temporary, as well as consider ourselves lucky compared to the many other businesses in China that have had to fold during this period due to lack of revenue.
Being a small company can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on how you look at it. We don’t have the resources of large companies, but we also don’t have the same overhead and responsibilities. As a fairly small, independently operated company, we can be flexible and even make lifestyle adjustments to offset short terms setbacks. If we had high rent, a retail shop, a large payroll, etc, then we would be feeling the financial hit much more.

What is your biggest concern about the effects of the coronavirus on your company?
Our biggest concern right now is not for our immediate revenue (although reduced cash flow when heading into the biggest purchasing months is not ideal), but how it will affect those we work with and our ability to source new spring tea this year. So far it seems everything is improving, and just in time. But if our ability to travel to the tea mountains and source new teas is restricted, then it will make it difficult to find new teas, inspect gardens, liaise with farmers, etc. It wouldn’t “cancel” spring tea, but it could limit our buying, if trying to maintain our typical standards.
The other concern has been with teaware. We have not been able to restock very much teaware as the small studios and artists we buy from have not been back to work. Jingdezhen was blocking any non-locals (including those from other provinces who live and work there) from returning. Many artists and their workers couldn’t return, although I think this situation is improving as well. There may be a backlog of orders for them though, which we anticipate will cause delays for us to restock.
Other aspects were affected too. During this time we couldn’t even restock cardboard boxes for shipping. We barely made it through though, and found another supplier to send us some boxes just in time.
Again, I feel we’re in a fortunate position where we have been able to maintain, but there has definitely been disruption. We do anticipate things will be returning to normal soon though, so hopefully things like spring tea are unaffected.

Are you concerned that the virus will have an impact on your business in the long term?
To be honest, we’re not too concerned that this will affect us in the long term (1+ years). If it spreads outside of China and affects the global economy, then we can anticipate it impacting our business for several more months. Again, this is not something we want, not just for ourselves but for all the other businesses and people who will suffer. But if it does happen, it won’t be forever.
We’re optimistic that in a year from now this will be history. We can’t see into the future, but if the course of this is similar to SARS or other scares from the last 20 years, there is typically a good recovery period that follows shortly after. We’re also fortunate that our customer base is very supportive. Many of them have continued to support us during this time, even with the uncertainty and fear that’s all around. We’re quite lucky to be part of a community like this.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about the Chinese tea industry related to the effects of the coronavirus?
The one thing that we have stressed during this period is that there is no risk of being infected through tea or teaware purchased from China. I think most people are aware of this by now, but the question occasionally still pops up, and we want people to be informed. We also are not experiencing any shipping delays at this point, so if purchasing from a China based vendors that is still processing orders, it should arrive within a normal timeframe.
Otherwise, just try not to fall prey to the fear and media scare. That’s not to say dismiss the threat, but try not to get overrun by emotions. Do your best to stay safe if it’s spread to your country, and try to have compassion for those affected, whether they’re close or far. This has been a difficult time for many, and a lot of innocent people have been affected. We’re all in this together, on some level.

Angel from TeaVivre:

Have you heard concerns from your customers regarding the coronavirus and buying tea/teaware?
Yes, a small number of clients have the concerns and send us emails to cancel the orders. But many clients think the coronavirus have no effect on the wrapped and packed tea and teaware. Anyway, we totally understand these feelings and concerns and also we respect them and their choice.

Have you noticed a change in sales since the onset of the coronavirus?
Because the spread of coronavirus occurred during the traditional Chinese Spring Festival, my first reaction was that no matter what the circumstances, I must guarantee the safety of each colleague and each client, so we decided to extend the holidays for Xiamen warehouse and did not ship the packages. All staffs work online from home. We also sent emails to our clients who were still waiting for the delivery to explain the current situation. During the past 1 month, we only retained the US warehouse. Frankly speaking, our sales fell by more than 50% during this period, but I think the health of our staffs and clients is more important than sales. Health and life are always my first consideration.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about the Chinese tea industry related to the effects of the coronavirus?
I hope readers can know I have been in touch with our cooperated tea gardens and tea farmers. From their information, tea gardens are in good condition, like the town of Qiandao Lake tea garden, the Longjing producing area, the whole area even has no one case. Other areas may have sporadic cases, but they all occur in densely cities. The tea gardens are far away from cities, even among high mountains, so the tea gardens are not affected. At present many tea gardens are preparing for 2020 Spring teas. Thank you for your care and support. We have carefully read every emails and messages that you sent to us. During the difficult days, your kind words, understanding and support give me and my team great encouragement, comfort and confidence. At present, considering that Xiamen has no new cases for 18 days from Feb. 18 and all the 35 coronavirus patients have been cured on March 4, we consider gradually resuming the delivery of the Xiamen warehouse. We will continue to pay attention to the situation and provide good tea to you based on measures to guarantee safety. It is you who gave us the courage and confidence to go through the darkness. Thanks again for being with us.

Daniel of Tea Baby:
Have you noticed a change in sales since the onset of the coronavirus?
Yes, a lot. People are encouraged to stay in home, no one go to tea shop; Luckily online sales still available but some people can not enter their warehouse and shipping speed is much slower. The good is we drink more tea at home.

What is your biggest concern about the effects of the coronavirus on your company?
The post affection worries me more than what happing now, people will be cautious to gather together, and try to stay in home as long as they can. When the tea harvesting begins, the shortage of labors will be a big problem. Last year, the salary for the labor was about 30USD/DAY per people, right now it’s about 60USD, and workers come from other region needs to be quarantined for 14 days before start work.
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I think these answers give some perspective to the tea vending situation, and I hope to speak with more people around the world as things develop. I do know that since these interviews took place, many companies have been able rectify shipping issues they've had. Thank you to Glen, Paul, Jonah, Angel, and Daniel for taking the time out to answer my questions!

3 comments:

  1. Great post, and really it’s a very tough time for us. In this current pandemic situation everyone should have to stay at home to fight this virus. Stay safe and best wishes for you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really outstanding article. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete