NEWSLETTER - SHANGBA FARM – COMPLETE OVERVIEW SINCE 11/2019
- June 2025
Shangba farm ceases operations – loss of a Fairbiotea partner
The difficult demand situation, as already mentioned in the last newsletter, has had an impact sooner than expected. In 2024, the company operating Shangba farm decided to cease farming and discontinue production.
The generally poor economic situation, both in terms of exports and the local market, apparently left the operating company with no choice but to part with the farm. Our contact person wrote to us about the reasons for this: “Apart from you [...] we are hardly getting any more orders from foreign trade and very few domestic deals.”
China is also suffering from a weakening economy. Measures taken by the Chinese government to support the economy have so far focused on the real economy, the real estate market, and the financial markets. There are virtually no measures to boost consumption.
By 2024, tea production had already ceased in Shangba. So far, we have no information about what will happen to the farm, except that investors or buyers are being sought.
As a result, we are losing a long-standing Fairbiotea partner and supplier that was well on its way to greater sustainability.
In September 2023, a Fairbiotea employee visited the farm to assess the progress made in compost production. Thirty tons of compost were to be spread as fertilizer on the test fields after the autumn harvest. The construction of a new compost heap was planned for November.
The decision by the operating company is understandable, but very regrettable. It should be noted that the initial situation in Shangba is different from that in Qingshan and Wulongshan. The tea farm Shangba is many times larger than the other two farms. This makes it much more expensive to operate the farm and also much more difficult to sell the entire harvest.
Fairbiotea would be delighted to find another farm as committed as Shangba, especially as a supplier of sencha. The farm should, of course, meet Fairbiotea's minimum standards, but should also be willing to develop further in the direction of greater sustainability.
- January 2024
The first compost consultation in Shangba took place in April 2023.Read more ...Compost production
The proposed measures included
- Adjusting the ratio of the raw materials better and more precisely to the desired carbon-nitrogen ratio in the finished compost.
- Increasing the amount of cattle manure collected, as well as the quantity of other materials.
However, calculating the correct ratio is a task that the farms have not yet been able to accomplish on their own and for which they still need professional help. In addition, the compost was not protected well enough from moisture.
According to the compost manager, approx. 30 tons of compost were produced in 2022. The new compost produced in spring/summer 2023 was applied directly after the last harvest in October. To compare the effectiveness, this was done on specially divided test areas. The farm also planned to buy commercial organic fertilizer to compare it with the self-produced compost. Such commercial organic fertilizer is about twice as expensive as the cost of producing their own compost.The second consultation in Shangba took place in mid-December when the second compost heap was created. A tarpaulin was now used to protect the compost from moisture. In addition, the raw materials used were adjusted, by which also a reduction of the moisture content was achieved. As a further measure, the experts suggested creating drainage ditches to divert the rain away from the composting area.
Other suggestions for improvement were to measure the temperature even more frequently and to mix the raw materials more thoroughly when turning the pile. Shangba also still lacks the necessary experience to recognize the best time to turn the compost heap. The fact that Shangba is actively looking in the area for suppliers of raw materials, especially cow dung, with the help of the experts was marked as positive.Nevertheless, it should be noted that development is progressing at a very slow pace, partly because the customer market does not reward it in monetary terms.
- October 2022
Unfortunately, there was again no opportunity for our staff to visit the farm in 2021. The strict travel restrictions in China still apply, so it is unlikely that a visit will be possible in 2022 either.Read more ...Certification, security, sustainability
At Fairbiotea's request, Shangba switched back to CERES as organic control body in 2021. In addition to the usual EU organic audit, there was a Fairbiotea inspection by CERES in 2021, which confirmed Shangba's compliance with Fairbiotea requirements.
As already reported for the other farms, the control body CERES measures the area of the fields planted with tea bushes very precisely using Google Maps and no longer just copies the size of the leased area into the certificate. It was found that of the total area of 530 hectares at Shangba farm, 287.47 hectares are actually cultivated with tea bushes.
The wage of seasonal workers in Shangba is about 17 to 30 yuan per hour, depending on the job, about €2.40 to €4.20 according to the current exchange rate.
The statutory minimum wage has not been increased in Guizhou province since the end of 2019. In the district where Shangba is located, it is 1570 yuan/month. At 17 yuan per hour and 8 working hours per day, seasonal workers are well above the statutory minimum wage.
Compost productionIn order to make progress towards more sustainability, Fairbiotea has stipulated in the development plan for Shangba farm that at least one first trial compost heap with cow dung must be made in 2022. In Shangba the main problem of compost production is also the procurement of the necessary materials such as cow dung and green biomass.
In May 2022, a first small compost heap was put up using green waste from the farm's surroundings, cow dung, the roots of organically grown crops and tea stalks from the processing factory. The whole thing was covered with a foil and turned with the help of a front loader. The evaluation of the results is still pending. Another trial pile is planned for October.
- December 2020
In 2019, the parent company running Shangba tea farm had signed a two-year contract with an Australian control body, for cost reasons without consulting Fairbiotea and against the agreements. Therefore, the organic certification in 2020 was still done by this control body.Read more ...General development
This year, unfortunately, there was no possibility for our staff to visit Shangba farm. The strict travel restrictions in China, especially for foreigners, made this impossible.
Certification, security, sustainability
Despite organic certification by another control body, there still was a Fairbiotea inspection by the organic control body CERES this year, which confirmed the fulfillment of the Fairbiotea requirements on the part of Shangba tea farm. Since Shangba continued to cooperate with CERES for the Fairbiotea inspections and also agreed to return to CERES as their control body in 2021, Fairbiotea accepted the interim change as a gesture of goodwill.
Compost production
Tea waste from the final processing factory, such as stalks, is composted and thus applied back to the tea fields. However, actual compost production with cow manure does not yet take place because they could not find a source for the manure yet. In addition, the know-how for large-scale compost production is not yet available in the farm and would have to be purchased in form of professional consulting. However, such consulting is hard to come by in China. Fairbiotea has been searching for a suitable compost consultant in China for several years without success.
- November 2019
In 2018, as already reported in the general newsletter 2019, Fairbiotea accompanied a scientist to three of our farms to draw first samples of soil, rock and tea leaves. In Shangba such a sampling took place in several sections of the farm.Read more ...General development
Contrary to the agreement with Fairbiotea, the parent company of Shangba tea farm decided this year to change its control body. Nevertheless, CERES will again carry out a Fairbiotea inspection of Shangba tea farm for us this year and check all requirements for a Fairbiotea member. Since Shangba is an exemplary operation run by a large parent company, we assume that again all minimum requirements will be fully met. On Fairbiotea's pushing, however, Shangba has promised to return to CERES as certifier.