What this paper covers
Premium tea has the same structural weakness as premium coffee, with an added collector dimension. Several protected origins sell dramatically more product worldwide than their gardens produce, and aged pu-erh trades at collector prices on provenance claims that rest largely on the seller's reputation.
This vertical guide works through the major markets in turn: Darjeeling and geographical-indication fraud, pu-erh authentication and the specific problem of proving age and storage, and the matcha and gyokuro trade where grade and harvest drive most of the price. For each, it identifies who captures the premium today and who loses it.
The solution section covers seal formats appropriate to loose leaf, cake, and tin packaging, what estates need to register at the garden, and how a collector-grade provenance record affects resale value. It ends with a 90-day pilot pathway and the revenue model for estates and distributors.