The More You Try to Explain, the More Confusing Laobanzhang Gets

It's been a long time since I last wrote an article. I'm not organizing my thoughts, just writing as they come. Feel free to read, and discussions are welcome, but no personal attacks.
Recently, the Rainforest Laobanzhang incident is still being followed up, and many public accounts are still sharing it widely. 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 the sake of a little pitiful traffic, actively create sensational topics. 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 fools. They attack one thing, then another, never considering whether they themselves have dirt.

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

Did Rainforest never buy a single leaf of Laobanzhang? Just based on the statements of three Laobanzhang tea farmers? Even if all the tea farmers in Laobanzhang testified that they didn't sell, 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 tea leaves from trees

Second, is there a way for the industry to prove that it's genuine Laobanzhang?

Today, even tea farmers are faking it. If the source is fake, how can companies guarantee authenticity? Who believes you? Unless you bring every consumer to the tree, and if they go to the bathroom and leave the tree, they start doubting. What's the point?

The records of Laobanzhang tea farmers prove nothing; records can be altered 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, and consumers vote with their feet. The industry will gradually standardize. Those making pure material will get better and better, while those making fake products will lose market share. That is the right path and an inevitable trend.

Fresh Laobanzhang leaves

Third, what does it mean to criticize Rainforest and Xiao Guan Tea?

Recently, there are two trends in the tea industry: criticizing Xiao Guan Tea and criticizing Rainforest. Rainforest, which champions ancient tree tea, has undeniable contributions to the Pu'er tea industry. Because these big companies are loudly promoting, those who make private high-end ancient tree tea have room to survive, and making niche tea can become an industry. Similarly, Xiao Guan Tea has contributed a huge number of wealthy customers who didn't drink tea before. Criticizing Xiao Guan Tea is, in a sense, irresponsible to your own livelihood. On a larger scale, before the industry is fully mature, and on a smaller scale, before you have established yourself, attacking these companies is foolish.

Caterpillars on Laobanzhang tea trees

Fourth, if Rainforest's Laobanzhang is "fake," will your "Laobanzhang" sell?

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

Of course, Rainforest itself has problems. This time with Laobanzhang, last time with Bohetang, these disputes are not worth discussing, and 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 more disputes arise.

No one benefits, except the public account that started it. Such garbage public accounts should be unfollowed!

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