Most weeks, an email lands in our inbox that says something like "need Chunmee tea, best price." Fair enough, but that request is a bit like asking a car dealer for "a car." Chunmee is not one product. It is a family of grades, and the code stamped on the bag tells you nearly everything about what you are buying. 41022 sits at the top: tightly rolled, largely unbroken leaf, the grade that ends up in premium retail tins. 9371 is the old Special Grade that built the North African trade. 4011 sits just below it and has quietly become the volume mover in Algeria and Nigeria. 8147 is the budget end, more broken leaf, still perfectly drinkable, and often what goes into tea bags and foodservice packs. Then come 3008 and 3009, the quiet workhorses of the CTC-style green tea world. Here is what nobody tells new buyers: grade codes are not standardized between factories. One producer's 9371 can pass for another's 41022 on paper, and the price gap usually reveals which one is bluffing. That is why we send physical samples and reference photos before quoting. Compare the leaf, not just the number. Match the grade to your market and you win. Algeria and Libya lean toward 9371 and 4011. Nigeria runs on 4011 and 8147. Mauritania and Senegal want lots that hold up to heavy sugar. European and North American buyers increasingly ask for 41022 or certified organic green tea for specialty shelves and private label programs.
