Report Feasibility study organic bitter tea Cao Bang - Helvetas

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Feasibility Study Organic Bitter Tea in Cao Bang: 2007 Drying in the open air (for up to 4 days, until dry enough) Spraying water on the leaves (so that it can be rolled) Rolling (by hand) Drying Quality check (remove badly shaped or coloured tea No additives are used in the process, which will make the processing conform to most organic standards. However, basic sanitation of the processing unit is limited. Besides, there is a risk of contamination from the outside environment. Most of the steps in the processing take place in the open air and there is a risk of contamination with dust and dirt. Also, motorbikes of staff are parked right next to the drying area, which also poses a risk. This problem could easily be solved with some investments to create separated drying areas, use of drying tables, etc. In organic production and processing care should be taken not to mix organic and nonorganic products in case the processing unit processes both products. The simplest solution would be to set up a separate processing unit just for the organic. Alternatively, one has to create separate storing areas for organic and non-organic and to create a system to physically separate processing of the organic and non-organic materials, for example by processing them on separate days. However, this would require the routine cleaning of all equipment and machinery before starting the processing of the organic batches. 4.6. Marketing Currently, the BTC sells almost exclusively bud tea. The production of tea bags and instant tea have stopped due to the lack of a market. Organic production is one way to diversify the product range offered by the BTC through which a larger range of customers could be reached. Organic bitter tea is already being offered by some Chinese companies as well as from South America (mate). There are several companies selling tea through the internet. One of these companies offers an organic bitter tea from China for 26 USD/lb (or around 57 USD/kg) (www.twohillstea.com, accessed on November 23, 2007). Below are some pictures of organic bitter teas from China sold in the USA: - 11 -
Feasibility Study Organic Bitter Tea in Cao Bang: 2007 However, it would be interesting to also explore the possibilities of creating some new products on the basis of bitter tea and this could be especially interesting when combined with the organic product. In many markets organic products are successfully introduced as new products and not just to replace a traditional product. This could really attract new customers who would otherwise not take bitter tea in its original form. The South American mate bitter tea is sold organically by one company both in flavoured form and traditional (unflavoured). Mate is commonly flavoured with mint, orange and grapefruit skin, etc. Tereré is an infusion similar to mate but prepared with cold water (rather than with hot water). The vast majority of people in Paraguay take their tereré with water infused remedial herbs such as mint or lemongrass. When not prepared with plain cold water, citrus or pineapple fruit juices are usually used (http://en.wikipedia.org/, accessed November 16, 2007). Examples of other interesting products are "Materva", a mate soft drink produced with herbs and bitter tea chewing gum from the China Hangzhou Tearrow Foodstuff Company. The Materva Soft Drink Company was founded in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1920. There is also a diet brand called Diet Materva. - 12 -
Page 1: Helvetas Vietnam Swiss Association
Page 4 and 5: Feasibility Study Organic Bitter Te
Page 6 and 7: SUMMARY Feasibility Study Organic B
Page 8 and 9: 1. INTRODUCTION Feasibility Study O
Page 22 and 23: storing organic product must be cle
Page 30 and 31: 7.4. Conclusions Feasibility Study
Page 32: ANNEX 1 - LIST OF PEOPLE INTERVIEWE

Report Feasibility study organic bitter tea Cao Bang - Helvetas

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?