News

01/21/11:  More Updates on Factors Affecting the Price & Availability of Chinese Herbs
         
          One of our most trusted suppliers of Chinese herbs has advised us that market conditions are still creating increased demand and decreased supply of many vital herbs which is causing the price of herbs to skyrocket.  Some of the factors contributing to these unfavorable conditions include not only weather problems that damaged crops (severe droughts, flooding, extremely cold winters) but also economic changes such as the rising value of the Yuan (the currency used in The People's Republic of China).  In the last 6 years, the value of the U.S. Dollar compared to the Yuan has decreased by 20%.  In 2004, the U.S. Dollar could be exchanged for 8.27 Yuan but today it can only be exchanged for 6.64 Yuan.  In addition, fuel cost has risen significantly, causing transportation/shipping costs to rise proportionately.
          In recent years, many farmers in China have left their farms to seek higher paying jobs in the cities.  This has left a deficit in the number of farms growing herbs as well as a shortage in agricultural labor for those farms still active.  This has resulted in a decrease of supply and an increase in labor costs.  According to one English newspaper published in China, many herbal medicines have increased in cost by 700%!
          Herb prices continue to fluctuate on a daily basis.  As of today, Zi Zai Dermatology has no intention of raising our prices for our products.  We cannot guarantee that we can avoid price changes in the future, but we will post warning here before any changes go into effect.  We hope you understand our dilemma and we hope you continue to count on us for our high-quality products and our honest communication with our customers.

12/14/10:  Update on possible increasing costs

Several of our suppliers of Chinese herbs have been (necessarily) increasing their prices to reflect recent changes in supply and demand of certain herbs.  Many crops of herbs have been damaged or destroyed due to severe weather conditions and events (earthquakes, late freezes, droughts and floods) in the past year and a half in the regions of China where many of our herbs are grown.  In addition, the H1N1 scare of 2009 significantly increased the cost and demand of many herbs with anti-viral properties (esp. Jin Yin Hua which is in many of Zi Zai's products).  Worldwide increase in the use and popularity of Chinese herbal medicine has also added to the increase of demand and decrease of supply of many important herbs.  As a result of the increasing cost of many Chinese herbs, Zi Zai may be forced to raise the prices of some our products in the near future.  We hope we won't need to do this, but we will post notice of any oncoming changes here to give our customers adequate notice.

Ongoing:

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