Netizen Question: I bought 600 g of Alishan High Mountain Tea at a tea shop for NT$1,800. After getting home and checking online, I found hand-picked tea priced at only NT$500, with a “buy 2 get 1 free” deal. Did I overpay?
Changxing Tea: I was recently chatting with an Alishan High Mountain tea farmer about the cost of making tea locally. He was generous enough to break down the estimates for me, and I’d like to share them with fellow tea lovers here.
Tea production costs include tea garden management, pesticides and fertilization, harvesting, processing, and sales. Among these, harvesting wages alone come to about NT$350 per 600 g; hiring a processing team and renting a tea factory adds about NT$150 per 600 g; pesticides and fertilizers run about NT$80 per 600 g. Sales loss and tea garden management are harder to calculate, but he estimates the total production cost for 600 g of Alishan High Mountain Tea exceeds NT$750.
Let’s do the math: if the farmer’s production cost is NT$750, how much should they sell it to the wholesaler for? How much should the wholesaler sell it to the tea shop for? And how much should the tea shop sell it to you for?
An Alishan High Mountain Tea priced at NT$1,800 is quite reasonable, provided the quality is there. As for the “hand-picked Alishan High Mountain Tea” online for NT$500 per 600 g, it’s likely not authentic. It could be machine-harvested low-elevation tea or imported tea from abroad. It’s best to ask thoroughly before buying.