Vietnamese Tea: Pesticides Are Endangering Market Expansion

Vietnamese Tea Market Expansion

If you live in the United States or a country of the European Union, then you probably have never tasted or even heard of Vietnamese tea. This is due to the fact the Vietnamese famers in the tea industry use pesticides that have been outlawed by consumer protection laws in western nations and countries and in the European Union. 

The main reason for the use of these harmful pesticides is that the cheap pesticides are highly effective at producing copious amount of successful product. The tea produced is sold to large companies, for example Folgers, and these companies use this tea in their product at specific amounts as filler, per specific consumer safety regulations by the FDA and other regulatory agencies. 

So, there is a high incentive for tea farmers to use pesticides, but they cut their market to only large corporations. There are efforts being made by the Vietnamese government to set up incentives for farmers to limit their use of pesticides, but they are only in the beginning sets to start such programs.

Vietnamese Famers Harvesting Tea Leaves

http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/245989/tea-industry-needs-to-plan-for-the-future.html

However, there is another side to Vietnamese tea:

"According to the customs of Vietnamese people, on moonlit nights, devotees set their boats on the lake and ponds when the lotus flowers are in bloom. They open the about-to-bloom lotus flowers and place a lot of tea inside each blossom, then close them with ribbon or string. Then they get the moonlit dew from the lotus leaves. By dawn, the living scent of lotus impregnates the tea , and the gatherers have enough dew to add to their teapots. After a few hours of sleep, they enjoy a blissful afternoon of tea."