http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-adv-ginseng-american-20150301-story.html
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But an American flag is no guarantee of American authenticity, said Tom Hack, international marketing director for the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin, where he says up 95% of the U.S. crop is grown.
In a recent survey at an Asian food expo in Southern California, the board found that less than 12% of ginseng products labeled as Wisconsin ginseng actually came from Wisconsin.
Hack says American ginseng purchased in America is more likely to be Canadian, or....
Chances are, he said, the Chinese tourists "are taking Chinese-raised 'American ginseng' back with them." ......
Sales have been strong the last few years, and farmers have sold out their whole inventory, said Hack of the Ginseng Board of Wisconsin. In 2013, the board and Beijing-based Tong Ren Tang signed a 10-year, $200-million deal to sell Wisconsin ginseng in China.
But over the last two decades, Wisconsin farmers have watched their market share sharply decline thanks to ginseng piracy and brand dilution, Hack said.
As proof, he offers some math. Wisconsin produces about 700,000 pounds of ginseng a year — 95% of the American crop, according to the Ginseng Board. About 80% of that is exported directly to Asia. That leaves roughly 140,000 pounds of genuine Wisconsin ginseng for distribution in the U.S. — a small fraction of U.S. sales.
U.S. ginseng suppliers typically aren't selling Wisconsin-grown ginseng, Hack said, because so little of it is available in the domestic market. The U.S. imports a lot of ginseng for domestic use — about $31.3 million of it in 2014, according to WiserTrade, an research firm that compiles data on U.S. foreign trade.
Some of that imported ginseng could be marketed as Wisconsin-grown, Hack said. A few years ago, Wisconsin ginseng seeds were planted in Canada and China — both among the world's leading ginseng producers.
