Quality as a Moving Target: Japanese Tea, Consumer Preference, and Federal Regulation on the US Market

Abstract

In the 1860s, US consumers initially welcomed the first imports of Japanese green tea, viewing them as superior in quality to established Chinese varieties. Two decades later, however, Japanese tea faced a crisis amid rising concerns about its quality. This chapter explores first the reasons behind that crisis, highlighting the roles of rapidly changing consumer views of coloring agents added to teas, health movements, media reports of widespread adulterations, and negative advertising campaigns launched by promoters of rival India and Ceylon black teas. Second, it examines the response mounted by US merchants dealing in Japanese green tea, emphasizing how they championed the institution of federal standards of quality, imposed by the US Congress in 1883 and 1897. The chapter thus reveals the limited influence that Japanese producers played in shaping perceptions of quality for their product, stressing instead the impacts of US discourse concerning food and beverage adulteration and fluid consumer preferences for tea.