Did you know that people actually have medium to long term investments in tea? My mom buys cakes of Pu Er tea for consumption, but she also has some cakes of tea that she sells back to the market as they promise some good returns after a year or so. I remember her telling me that one of her Pu Er tea investment was going to give her a return of 10% in less than a year and I thought “Wow, what an investment!”.
Of course, it’s not easy at all to invest a whole lot in tea. There is no specific investment mechanism in it and really, who’s to know the ups and downs of tea price. But generally, experts in tea will tell you that if you are into tea investment, then you ought to go for Pu Er tea specifically, because Pu Er tea gets better with age. Much like wine. And I believe there are a lot of wine investors out there too.
I read recently that sometimes, some of these well graded Pu Er can even give you a return up to 50% over the long term. But you must be a long term investor, spanning periods between 10 to 20 years.
If you are not a tea lover and do not know much about tea, I would think it’s not a good idea to get into this. If you have an avid tea drinker friend or family member who knows all about tea, perhaps you can get some knowledge on tea and possibly some tips about investing in tea.
But this is something for you to think about if you are a fan of Chinese tea, and looking out for something different to invest in. However, be cautioned that times have changed, and maybe, just maybe, people may not pay a premium for what they consider to be luxury items when times are bad. Good tea is a kind of luxury, don’t you agree?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Investing in tea is indeed very similar to wine investment, except that the wine sellers sometimes also provide wine storage for the investors. I doubt that tea sellers will do that especially in our climate where humidity will change the quality of the tea. Sometime back, a friend actually asked me to invest in this but there was no storage space considered and they said to just store it at his house!! Imagine what the humidity can do to it, not to mention fire (touch wood) and no insurance policy can be taken on it!
I think wine investment is a bit more refined and advance than investing in tea. It’s also true that it’s not easy to store tea in our part of the world. Probably that’s why this type of investment is more popular in places like Hong Kong and China.