Vietnamese Tea for Bubble Tea: Grades for Taiwan Buyers

Vietnamese tea for bubble tea and milk tea comes down to a few grades: CTC BP, PF or PD and orthodox F1 or Dust 1 for a strong black milk tea, orthodox BPS or PS for a brisker black tea, green tea fannings, BPS or PS for green tea bases, and Jasmine TH or OP for jasmine green tea. In 2025 Vietnam supplied 55.25% of the tea Taiwan imported by volume, mostly for food processing such as milk tea and matcha powder. This guide is for importers, blenders, drink chains and ingredient suppliers serving Taiwan's hand-shaken drinks (手搖飲): grades, testing, container loads, import rules, shipping and ordering.

Why Taiwanese drink makers use Vietnamese tea

• Share: in 2025 Taiwan imported 25,940 tons of tea worth US$77.09 million from 33 suppliers. Vietnam supplied 14,330 tons (55.25%) worth US$25.91 million (Taiwan's International Trade Administration, TITA, via the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei).
• Price: about US$1.81 per kg, against US$4.41 for Sri Lanka, the second supplier (our calculation).
• Type: in 2024 Vietnam supplied 76.5% of Taiwan's 9,030 tons of green tea imports and 7,970 of its 18,700 tons of black and partly fermented tea (Taiwan customs data reported by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade, MOIT).
• Use: mainly food processing such as milk tea and matcha powder, in bags of over 3 kg (Công Thương, May 2025).
• Vietnam Customs: Taiwan was Vietnam's second-largest tea market in 2024 and 2025, after Pakistan, and took 9,234 tons worth US$18.9 million in January–August 2026 (preliminary).

Choosing Vietnamese tea for bubble tea and milk tea

Loads per 40-foot high cube (40HC) container are approximate, with standard bulk packing (packing and loading).

CTC black tea: BP, PF, PD and BOP

CTC (cut, tear, curl) granules brew fast, dark and strong. BP is the workhorse grade for milk tea; PF, a finer cut, is a common choice for strong milk tea; PD, the finest cut, gives strength and color quickest and is used for boba tea; BOP, the largest granule, is also bought for milk tea. See our CTC black tea and CTC buying guide.

Orthodox fannings, dust and broken grades

Orthodox tea is rolled, not cut. F1 keeps its taste with milk, sugar and ice, and Dust 1 brews darker than fannings and keeps its color in milk tea and bubble tea. The broken grades BPS and PS give a reddish-gold cup with more leaf character: BPS is strong enough for milk tea, and both are worth sampling for a fruit black tea. See our orthodox and tea dust grades and tea dust guide.

Green tea, jasmine, matcha and oolong

Our green tea is not oxidized: the leaf is heated soon after plucking. Fannings brew quickest, to a strong, vegetal cup. Jasmine TH carries the same jasmine scenting as Jasmine OP on a medium, flaky leaf at a lower price, and its jasmine taste stays easy to notice in a blend. We also make matcha in four grades for lattes and drinks, and a green Jin Xuan oolong (the cultivar comes from Taiwan) for oolong milk tea; quantities for both are confirmed per order. See our green and flavored teas and green tea grades guide.

How to test a sample the way a tea shop does

1. Brew it your way: your tea-to-water ratio, temperature, time and equipment.
2. Taste it plain, hot and iced: strength, bitterness, astringency and aroma after chilling.
3. Make the drink: add your milk or creamer, sugar syrup and ice, and shake as in store. A milk tea base should keep its color and tea taste; a fruit tea base should stay clear.
4. Hold and compare: keep the brew as long as your stores do, then taste it again beside a neighboring grade, such as PF beside BP, brewed the same way.
5. Fix the specification: the grade (grade names), liquor, appearance, aroma and flavor, plus particle size and moisture for tea bags or brewing machines. The approved sample becomes the standard: every shipment must be the same as or better than it.

Taiwan import rules for tea

Rules as of October 2026, not legal advice; confirm details with your broker.

Border inspection by TFDA

The importer must apply to Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) for inspection of every shipment. By risk and past results, TFDA checks every lot or samples 20–50% or 2–10% of lots. A lot that fails for pesticide residues is returned or destroyed, and the importer's next lots of the same product and origin are checked more tightly until at least five pass in a row. For tea from Vietnam:

• Green tea in packings over 3 kg has been inspected lot by lot for pesticide residues since March 2008, and is still on TFDA's control list (updated 6 October 2026).
• Black tea in packings over 3 kg needed a residue report for fipronil, hexaconazole, profenofos and acephate with every application from August 2015 until 7 July 2025, when TFDA lifted the rule.
• TFDA's public rejection list shows four lots of Vietnamese tea refused for pesticide residues from January 2023 to early October 2026: one of black tea, one of green tea and two of Jin Xuan oolong, each of 5 to 9 tons.

Pesticide residue limits

Taiwan's Standards for Pesticide Residue Limits in Foods (農藥殘留容許量標準, amended 21 April 2026) set limits for tea pesticide by pesticide. Many pesticides without a tea limit get a default, mostly 0.05 ppm, tied to the official test method, and a pesticide that is not listed must not be detected. Ask for a multi-residue report on the actual lot, checked against Taiwan's table rather than another market's.

Tea origin on drink menus

Since 31 July 2015, chain drink shops, convenience stores and fast-food chains must show the country of origin of the tea in freshly made tea drinks, with blends listed by share. Origin is where the leaf was harvested, so Vietnamese tea is shown as Vietnam (越南). Taipei's health department tells shops to keep proof, such as the supplier's certificate of origin; a missing label can be fined NT$30,000 to NT$3 million.

Import duty and business tax

Vietnam has no free trade agreement with Taiwan, so tea from Vietnam pays the most-favored-nation (MFN) duty:

Customs also collects 5% business tax (VAT) on the duty-paid value plus duty.

Shipping, Incoterms and documents

We quote FOB Hai Phong, CFR or CIF to Keelung, Taichung or Kaohsiung, or DAP to your address. Under CFR and CIF we also pay sea freight, and under CIF minimum insurance, but risk passes at loading in Vietnam; under DAP you clear Taiwan customs and pay duty and tax.

Direct sailings from Hai Phong take about 3 days port to port to Kaohsiung, Taichung or Keelung. Services calling at Hong Kong and southern China take longer: about 6 days to Kaohsiung on Maersk's HP2.

With the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading, we prepare the export documents your import requires, such as a certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate and certificate of analysis; SGS or Dai Viet Control inspection and pesticide and heavy-metal reports can be arranged on request.

How to order from Goo Farm Tea Vietnam

We are a manufacturer, with two factories of our own in Phu Tho and Yen Bai, northern Vietnam, and an annual capacity of about 7,000 tons. The Yen Bai factory is certified to ISO 22000:2018 by Vinacontrol (certificate No. 31905-FSV).

1. Tell us the drink, grades, monthly volume, packing and port.
2. We send samples with a specification sheet; the approved one becomes the order standard.
3. We quote FOB, CFR, CIF or DAP. The minimum order is one 40HC container.
4. We check the lot against that sample and pack it in PP/PE bags, kraft paper sacks, cartons or vacuum aluminum bags, or under your own label.
5. We load at Hai Phong and send the documents.

Send us an enquiry or read how we sell wholesale tea.

Frequently asked questions

What Vietnamese tea for bubble tea and milk tea should I sample? CTC BP, PF or PD and orthodox F1 or Dust 1 for a strong black milk tea; green tea fannings, BPS or PS for green tea bases; Jasmine TH or OP for jasmine green tea.

What duty does Taiwan charge on tea from Vietnam? 17% on green and black tea and 22% on partly fermented tea such as oolong in packings over 3 kg (WTO data, 2025), plus 5% business tax.

Is Vietnamese tea tested at the Taiwan border? Green tea in packings over 3 kg is inspected lot by lot for pesticide residues, other tea at the level TFDA sets. Ask for a residue report checked against Taiwan's limits.

Must drink shops in Taiwan show where their tea comes from? Chains must: they show the tea's country of origin, such as Vietnam (越南), for freshly made tea drinks.

What is the minimum order? One 40HC container: about 24 to 26 tons of CTC BP, PF or PD, 26 to 28 tons of fannings and dust, or 16 to 17 tons of jasmine green tea.

Sources

Links checked on 7 October 2026.

• TITA data via the Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei: Công Thương, 17 January 2026 (in Vietnamese).
• Taiwan customs data via MOIT: Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, 1 March 2025; use in food processing: Công Thương, 15 May 2025 (in Vietnamese).
• Vietnam Customs, exports by country: 2024, 2025, January–August 2026.
• TFDA: import inspection regulations, amended 21 August 2025; control measures; border rejection list; pesticide residue limits, amended 21 April 2026.
• Ministry of Health and Welfare on origin labels for freshly made drinks: 2015, 2017, 2024; Taipei Department of Health via foodNEXT, 1 June 2021.
• Duties and taxes: WTO Tariff and Trade Data, Chinese Taipei, 2025; TITA list of FTA and ECA partners; PwC, Taiwan other taxes.
• Transit times: Cogoport, Hai Phong to Kaohsiung, Taichung and Keelung, 6 October 2026; Maersk HP2 timetable.