Ever heard of "counterfeit tea"?

Are counterfeit goods spreading out of Luxury industry?

[Macguru]

I just searched for "counterfeit tea" (with quotes) and got 13 results.

Every day, I drink some relatively inexpensive green tea imported from China. At about 5 $ .ca a pound, it's not a luxury item.

I returned a box of it last week, because quality was not what it used to be. The cashier admitted the supplyer got a whole container of counterfeit tea. Of course it was tea, but not the same quality. I had to switch brands because they where short on my usual stuff.

We are aware of counterfeit goods for luxury items like designer's watches, clothes, glasses and the likes, but "counterfeit tea" caught me by surprise.

Anyone aware of counterfeit goods spreading to inexpensive regular brands?
How important is it?

[Fiver]

There have been instances of counterfeit cigarettes and liquor for years around here (between Montreal and Toronto there are lots of discreet border crossing opportunities). Anything in demand that can be sold in large quantities is likely worth bootlegging and counterfeiting, and inevitably, smuggling. Especially if its inexpensive to produce, like your tea.

Makes sense in a strange way... like under the radar spammers who know they make good money off of the little keywords, and so don't bother trying to counterfeit a rolex, so to speak.

[digitalghost]

Counterfeit cigars are a huge problem. Easy for the cigar afficianado to spot but nearly impossible for the occasional cigar smoker to notice. Although good cigars qualify as luxury items. :) Fine teas could be considered a luxury too. Lipton tea on the other hand...

[grelmar]

That's kinda funny. Last time I was in China I had a heck of a time trying to get real Marbies, there were so many counterfeit ciggies around.

It somehow doesn't surprise me the counterfeitting goes both ways. Especially when you think about it. Even a moderate specialty tea will go for between 10-20 times the price of cheap, low grade tea, so there's a heck of a margin there for bulk counterfeitters to work with.