Tea grown in different regions (countries) varies in trace element content due to differences in the elemental composition of the soil. Therefore, analyzing the trace elements in tea leaves serves as an important method for identifying the tea’s origin. Taiwan’s Tea Research and Extension Station (TRES) uses Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) to analyze trace elements in teas from various countries, and has built a comprehensive multi-element database. This enables the identification of Taiwanese versus imported teas with an accuracy of up to 98%.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Taiwan consumes an average of around 34,000 metric tons of tea annually over the past three years, with imported tea accounting for nearly 80% of this amount. Among imported teas, Vietnamese tea ranks highest. Taiwanese premium teas are known for their quality and therefore command higher prices. However, the price difference—up to 70%—has led some unscrupulous sellers to mix cheaper imported tea and falsely market it as high-grade Taiwanese tea to make excessive profits. Regardless of the quality of imported teas, passing them off as authentic Taiwanese premium tea for high-priced sales is clearly unacceptable.

Source: Tea Research and Extension Station, Ministry of Agriculture, Taiwan