2025 Yiwu Spring harvest update
- Philip Lee
- Jun 26
- 3 min read
TLDR: Overall, the good tea was still low in quantity. Good news is that it rained, and bad news is that it rained too much...
It's that time of the year! Spring is over, and summer is finally upon us! It's great to be back in Guangzhou for a very hot and very wet summer! Price updates for 2025 have finally been released, bringing jubilation and excitement to everyone. Well, sarcasm aside, the latest products have also been uploaded, and it's great to be back after having spent such a long time in Yunnan.
This spring in Yiwu was certainly interesting in many ways. Despite the differences in weather from last year, production remains relatively low in the region as a whole. The early spring was extremely dry, despite some rain before CNY. Then, there was generally too much rain during the main flush in most villages. As a consequence, high-quality, low-production gardens remain at high prices.
In contrast, tourism in and around Yiwu has increased, whilst other regions such as Menghai and Lincang have reported a general decrease. Eco-tourism is a growing industry, and the long-term effects of such are probably worth further investigation and discussion in a future blog entry, or more.
Average labour prices have increased again, and large factories and brands have reduced their overall order quantities to the point that there is considerably less cash flow in the region. All of these factors combined to result in high production areas having dropped prices at the end of Spring or stopping production early.
The poor weather and economy have resulted in fewer wholesale orders this year, leading to a lack of cash flow for our retail side. Since we haven't sold out of previous retail batches, we are now limited in how much tea we can warehouse, which is the main reason we still have a limited selection available this year.
On the other hand, our international market continues to grow slowly and steadily. Friends across the industry comment on the differences between the more mature Chinese and South East Asian markets versus the rest of the world, especially the US and Central Europe, which are still in a growth stage. It is this growth that has enabled customers all over the world to enjoy unique premium teas from every region of China.
To continue with our goal of sharing pure Yiwu tea, the teas we have made available for retail are all fantastic options, which are good value and high quality. On our retail side, we will continue to adapt our business accordingly to balance our goals and the market situation to provide the most unique and best possible service to you and our other customers. So, whether you are still new to Yiwu and want to get your feet wet with more samples, or more of a collector and want to purchases some of your own cakes to age, or even a vendor/reseller who wants to buy wholesale, I hope you can find something within our collection that meets your needs.
Thank you for your continued interest and support, and please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or feedback.
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