The More You Explain, the More Confusing Laobanzhang Gets

It's been a long time since I last wrote an article. I won't organize it, just write as thoughts come. Feel free to read, welcome discussion, but no personal attacks.
Recently, the Rainforest Laobanzhang incident is still being followed up, with many public accounts reposting it. I think this is the biggest blind following among industry practitioners.

Aerial view of Laobanzhang village

Yesterday, someone said that another account also faked it. They really don't mind adding fuel to the fire. The industry is in chaos, consumers are confused. Can't we just not drink it?

From the beginning, I advised people around me not to forward such information. Some public accounts, for a bit of pitiful traffic, actively create topic events. From Fang Zhouzi's "Pu'er tea causes cancer" rumor to the "Rainforest Laobanzhang incident," they seem to occupy a moral high ground, but they are actually a bunch of idiots, attacking one moment and then another, never considering whether their own hands are dirty.

I've digressed. Let's return to the Laobanzhang incident.

Did Rainforest never buy a single Laobanzhang? Just based on the statements of three Laobanzhang tea farmers? Even if all the over a hundred tea farmers in Laobanzhang testified that they didn't sell to Rainforest, it doesn't prove that Rainforest never bought Laobanzhang. Couldn't Rainforest have commissioned a third party to buy Laobanzhang? The arguments are all nonsense, and the conclusions are all wrong. That's point one.

Picking Laobanzhang from trees

Second, is there a way for the industry to prove it's genuine Laobanzhang?
Today, even tea farmers fake it. If the source is fake, how can companies guarantee authenticity? Who believes you? Unless you bring consumers to the tree, but if they go to the bathroom and leave the tree, they start doubting. Is that meaningful?
The records of Laobanzhang tea farmers prove even less; records can be modified or added later.
Tasting and testing, as far as I know, are also unreliable.
So what to do? I think unless there are clear legal regulations, it will be difficult to make a breakthrough in the short term. Each enterprise should do its own products according to its own standards, consumers vote with their feet, the industry gradually standardizes. Those making pure material get better, those making fake goods lose market share. That is the right path and an inevitable trend.

Fresh leaves of Laobanzhang

Third, what does cursing Rainforest and Xiao Guan Tea mean?
Recently, there are two trends in the tea industry: cursing Xiao Guan Tea and cursing Rainforest. Rainforest, which holds high the banner of ancient tree tea, has undeniable contributions to the Pu'er tea industry. Because these big factories shout loudly at the front, those who make private high-end ancient tree tea have room to survive, and making niche tea can become an industry. Just as Xiao Guan Tea has contributed a huge number of wealthy customers who didn't drink tea before, cursing Xiao Guan Tea is, in a sense, irresponsible to your own livelihood. On a larger scale, before the industry fully matures, and on a smaller scale, before you have a firm footing, cursing and attacking these enterprises is foolish.

Caterpillars on Laobanzhang tea trees

Fourth, if Rainforest's Laobanzhang is "fake," can your "Laobanzhang" sell?
Absolutely not. If confused consumers deny Rainforest, will they believe your Laobanzhang is genuine? Is it because you're handsome or eloquent? In the end, everyone is forced to go to Laobanzhang to guard the trees, only believing that what they buy in Laobanzhang is genuine. In the short term, Laobanzhang tea farmers benefit the most; in the long run, more people will stop playing with Laobanzhang, which is not good for Laobanzhang tea farmers either.

Of course, Rainforest itself has problems. This time Laobanzhang, last time Mintang, these disputes are not discussed; they can't be clarified. Rainforest's advertising touched a minefield by using non-Laobanzhang tea farmers to represent Laobanzhang. That's a solid fact and unavoidable. We should all take warning and not always place ourselves on a moral high ground. Mistakes are inevitable; we are all the same. When you get bigger, more people watch you, and disputes increase.

No one benefits, except the original public account. Such garbage public accounts, just unfollow them!

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Articles and images are original. The author is Lü Jianfeng, working at 51 Pu'er Net, initiator of Houyue Crowdfunding Tea, and convener of Yunnan Houyue Black Tea Co., Ltd.