NEWSLETTER - DONGZHAI FARM – COMPLETE OVERVIEW SINCE 11/2019

Important message: Dongzhai is no longer partner of Fairbiotea

• November 2023

  Certification, security, sustainability

  The cooperation between Puer Zuxiang and Fairbiotea reaches back many years. Under the farm name Dongzhai high-quality teas were sold that were practically unique in the organic market. Through mutual support, the producer was able to give up parallel production and set up a factory entirely for organic certified teas. A social certification and development of further tea varieties for the European market initiated by Fairbiotea has also enabled additional sales and success. The already existing compost production on a very high level was the basis for the partnership from the beginning.

  Unfortunately, however, there have been more and more setbacks in the last few years as far as the development towards actual sustainable action is concerned. For example, they did not want to give up their organic control body ECOCERT, which is not approved by Fairbiotea.

  In order for ECOCERT to provide advisory services to Dongzhai under the Fairbiotea Standards, Dongzhai would have had to switch to Ceres as the Fairbiotea contract control body. Dongzhai refused to do so. Under EU law control bodies are not allowed to advise their contract partners, and control bodies acting in an advisory capacity are not allowed to control these contract partners, in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Accordingly, it would not have been legally possible for ECOCERT to provide advice to Dongzhai.

  Also, TraCert inspections could not be carried out extensively, and exceptions became regularities. Despite repeated declarations of partnership and on-site visits to Yunnan, teas were ultimately only offered with unsatisfactory leaf quality, or had to be cancelled altogether because they were not marketable. As a result, even minimum standards of Fairbiotea were no longer met. With the start of the 2022 harvest season, Fairbiotea contracts were concluded with the stipulation to implement the required standards or let the contracts expire. Unfortunately, we had to discover further inconsistencies in the course of the year, which even suggested a suspicion of a violation of the organic regulation. After the suspicion was not formally commented on and there were no reactions on the part of the control body except to issue a new organic certificate for the producer, we saw no other way than to consequently terminate the cooperation. The products in stock can continue to be marketed as Fairbiotea until they are sold out.

• December 2020

  

  General development

  For years, Dongzhai farm has been doing a very good job, providing excellent teas. This year there was for the first time also a large order of individually designed pressed tea cakes. Not only Pu Erh tea can be pressed this way, but also white or black tea is perfectly suited for this kind of processing. In the new showroom of the operating company Puer Zuxiang, one can taste and examine these and other teas.

  Certification, security, sustainability

  Two of the leading sustainability certification organizations, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance, have merged and will in the future certify according to one corporate, new global standard under the name of Rainforest Alliance. In the run-up to this, they have recognized each other. Dongzhai therefore decided to have 2020 already only one of the two certifications in place, namely Rainforest Alliance.

  Compost production

  Compost production has expanded even further in recent years. Puer Zuxiang has its own compost production company, which has a capacity of over 5000 tons per year. Currently, only about half of this is produced. In addition to goat dung, oilseed cakes and the pulp of coffee cherries, among other things, are processed into compost. Production happens continuously, on average two new piles per month. The compost is applied to the tea fields twice a year, once in May, June, the other time in November, December. About 15 tons per hectare are used.

• November 2019

  Certification, security, sustainability

  To comply with the requirements of the market, Dongzhai obtained 2018 now also the sustainability certifications according to UTZ and Rainforest Alliance.

  Modernisation

  A new tea factory was built in 2017 and was equipped with new, modern machines in the beginning of 2018.