Fake Lipton Tea, Nescafe Leak Into EU, Hurting Unilever, Nestle [influx of fake products from China]

[candice]

By Stephanie Bodoni, Hugo Miller and Naween Mangi
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aRFsS3xOEtYA&refer=home

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Belgian customs official Chris De Buysscher intercepted a shipment of 20,000 kilograms (44,000 pounds) of fake Lipton tea from China last year. He discovered 800,000 knockoff Oral-B toothbrushes because the accompanying paperwork was vague about their final destination.

De Buysscher, head of the port of Antwerp's counterfeit- hunting squad, is on the front line of a new battle in the war against knockoffs: fake brand-name items including tea, shampoo and soap. Colgate-Palmolive Co. yesterday warned U.S. consumers that counterfeit toothpaste that may contain a chemical used in antifreeze was found at stores in four states.

Fraudulent products hurt sales of companies such as Nestle SA, Procter & Gamble Co. and Lipton tea owner Unilever and may pose health risks. Companies in general lose about 10 percent of sales to counterfeiting, says Guy Sebban, secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce. That would translate to $20 billion a year for the three corporations combined.

``It's gone from being a local problem to a multinational problem,'' says Richard Heath, Unilever's global anti- counterfeiting counsel, who's based in London. ``All the investment the counterfeiters make is in the packaging and not what goes inside and that's the worrying thing.''

...

In 2006, European Union customs officers seized 253 million fakes at the external borders of the bloc, up from 85 million in 2002. Seizures of personal-care products and perfume rose to 1.6 million items from 112,132 in 2002. Officers caught 1.2 million food and beverage products, up from 841,000.

..

[candice]

1. If consumers want to avoid foodstuff from China...

another way to make a fast buck is just to knock off the products.

[Snarkoleptic]

2. China has ZERO respect for...

copyright, trademark, and intellectual property rights.
They have brazenly opened a state-owned Disneyland knockoff.
The article link below shows some of the Disney character look-alikes.
The park also has an EPCOT-like geosphere, a Cinderella Castle and a counter service restaurant built in a giant Snow White figure.
Article...
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=1678
Homepage of the park...
http://www.bs-amusement-park.com/

[Deja Q]

7. Neither does India. Why do we keep offshoring (aka rewarding) them for doing these things?

This isn't a military issue. It's a legal one.

Corporations that offshore, if they have any respect for law and their countrymen, need to get China to change its ways - if China wishes to continue in the global economy. (If I'm wrong in this, let me know, but something needs to be done, but I doubt it's that difficult to restore offshored operations back in America... if anybody was truly serious on any of these sorts of issues.)

[jmowreader]

3. Why would anyone counterfeit Lipton tea?

It's got a famous name, but it has GOT to be the most flavor-free tea in the world.

[Quantess]

4. What would counterfeit Lipton be like?

Lawn clippings in a tea bag?

[jmowreader]

5. I'm thinkin...

The weird thing here is this: You counterfeit merchandise because you know the shit you're selling won't sell on its own merits--instead, you have to steal someone else's name.

The problem with Chinese copies of fucking Lipton Tea is...one of the things the Chinese do VERY well is tea. Americans know Chinese tea is very good, so it sells here at a premium price. Why would ANYONE take Chinese tea that, if sold as Chinese tea would sell for a very good price, and put a fake Lipton label on it? Even bad Chinese tea is better than Lipton.

I once wrote this joke "press release" because the Papayo Cigar Company (located on D Street in Killeen, Texas--NOT a nice neighborhood) was experiencing problems with counterfeit Papayos. Now, understand that Papayo is apparently Spanish for "White Owl." (It's actually a Mexican volcano.) These stogies were what my dad used to refer to as "fresh off the post office lawn." I never figured out why people only threw half-smoked shitty cigars only on the post office lawn and nowhere else in town, but not everything fathers say makes a hell of a lot of sense. The press release was to help people recognize the difference between a real Papayo and a fake one, and the bogus Papayos were supposedly far superior to the real ones. Smokers were asked to immediately mail all counterfeit Papayos to the company, which would send you a note of thanks and a real Papayo in return. Smokers who sent in genuine Papayos were sent three genuine Papayos and a helpful booklet on identifying counterfeit Papayos, entitled "quit sending us real Papayos, asshole, we shipped them for a reason." I bring this up because as in the case with fake Papayos, we have an example of a product where the imitation is better than the original.

[spoony]

6. It was likely either blighted

or would otherwise have been discarded, maybe poorly processed.

Personally speaking, Chinese tea is shite compared to Indian Assam.

[Deja Q]

8. An interesting point.

[entanglement]

9. Have a tough time feeling bad for Nestle after their unethical promotion of formula

in developing countries.