There’s something to be said for gray duck down (I’m really no worse than white duck down)

In today’s China, most consumers like white duck down, believing that compared to gray duck down, white duck down has a whiter and more beautiful appearance and is of higher quality. The beauty of down is actually a major misunderstanding in China’s down consumption.

Gray duck down

White duck down

An obvious fact is that buyers from European and American countries, which have a consumption history of down products for more than a century, purchase and use large amounts of gray duck down in China. If you don’t believe it, go to the mall and look at down jackets from Nike, Adidas, North Face, and even Canada Goose, which is highly sought after by Chinese people. The fillings on the labels are mostly gray duck down.

Why is this? The answer behind this may surprise many people. Ordinary gray duck down is cheaper than ordinary white duck down, but of higher quality. European and American buyers prefer gray duck down as a pragmatic and connoisseur’s choice. Below, the author will explain the price and quality of gray and white duck down point by point (the following discussions are all about the mainstream ordinary gray ducks and white ducks, non-laying ducks and breeding ducks).

Gray and white duck down price

The following is the duck down quotation taken from the Down Gold Network on September 18, 2020.

Based on GB/T 14272 -2011 “Down Clothing” Down Quotation

As can be seen from the above quotation, the price of gray duck down of the same specifications More than 10% lower than white duck down. Anyone familiar with the down industry knows that the price of white duck down has been higher than that of gray duck down since the 1990s, and this trend may continue for some time.

There are two main reasons for the high price of white duck down. The market concentration of white duck down is high and its application range is wide.

Let’s talk about the high concentration of white duck down market first. In one of my humble articles, the author discussed the Cherry Valley white duck, which occupies more than 80% of the Chinese white duck market share. Cherry Valley white ducks are mainly bred on a large scale in modern farms, and have formed three major duck farming giants: New Hope Liuhe, Yike Group and Huaying Agriculture. According to public data from New Hope Liuhe Group in 2019, the annual output of white ducks in 2018 was 700 million, and down raw materials accounted for 30% of the country’s supply and 24% of the global market. The three major duck farming giants have firmly controlled more than half of the country’s raw wool market share. Their pricing power with a certain monopoly is self-evident, and economics tells us that only monopoly can bring excess profits. The author speculates with a villain’s heart that the feelings of China’s down manufacturers towards these three giants are half love and half hate!

Gray ducks are genetically different from Cherry Valley ducks. They eat no less than Cherry Valley ducks, but they gain more meat than Cherry Valley ducks. There are few white ducks, and there is no significant advantage in taste compared to Cherry Valley white ducks. The investment in raising gray ducks is high and the returns are low. Ultimately, no farm is willing to breed large-scale ducks. Only farmers across the country carry out free-range breeding. The free-range gray ducks eventually After flowing into farmers’ markets in various places, they are slaughtered, and gray duck feathers can only be collected step by step by feather vendors in various places. No one can form a market monopoly on gray duck feathers. Eventually, a market pattern of scattered gray duck feathers and full competition is formed. Prices are naturally determined entirely by market supply and demand. Economics tells us that the ultimate profit in a perfectly competitive market is zero.

There is no monopoly merchant of gray duck down, so naturally they cannot obtain the monopoly price of white duck down. If the price is lower than that of white duck down, it will not matter at all. Strange.

Let’s talk about the scope of application. In recent years, light-colored down jackets have been favored by the fashion industry. If the light-colored down jacket fabric is paired with gray duck down, the color of the gray duck down can still be seen through the fabric. It looks not only dots of gray, but also a bit dirty. At this time You must use Cherry Valley white duck down to make your down jacket look better. White duck down has a good appearance and can be used regardless of the fabric color. It has a wider range of applications and has won the favor of down jacket brands. Gray duck down has a low appearance and can only be used on dark fabrics, so it is naturally ignored by down jacket brands.

Gray-white duck down quality

The quality of duck down is mainly determined by the duck’s breeding environment and breeding cycle. Whether it is the breeding environment or the breeding cycle, gray ducks are the winner.

Look at the breeding environment first. Gray ducks are mainly raised by farmers in free range. Gray ducks have sufficient grazing time and water bathing conditions. Their feathers are relatively small. Clean; while the Cherry Valley white ducks that are mainstream in the market are caged or shed-raised on a farm scale, with high breeding density and basically no water bathing conditions, and the smell of feathers is strong. This is also the main reason why white duck down has a stronger smell than gray duck down.

Look at the breeding cycle. According to the growth and development rules of ducks, when ducks are about 50 days old, duck down yields more and the quality is good; when ducks are 30 to 45 days old, duck down is less and of poor quality. The breeding period of gray ducks raised by farmers in free range is generally more than 50 days. The duck meat at this time tastes good and the selling price is relatively high; while the Cherry Valley white ducks raised on a large scale are basically concentrated between 38 and 42 days old. The author once collected a large amount of data to compare the number of downs of 0.1g of white duck down and gray duck down. The average number of downs of 0.1g of white duck down is 470, and the average number of 0.1g of gray duck down is 300, which is the average number of gray duck down. The weight is 1.5 times that of white duck down. A simple understanding is: the volume of gray duck down is half larger than that of white duck down.

Gray duck breeding cycle is long, gray duck down has long velvet, large velvet, high fluffiness, low odor, and high quality gray duck down It beats white duck down, and the price is more than 10% lower than white duck down. European and American buyers who understand down and are pragmatic are naturally happy to buy gray duck down in the Chinese market.

Gray duck down has no appearance but has connotation, just like a simple and unpretentious Chinese girl, it is difficult for Chinese boys to like her. In the end, he was forced to cross the ocean, became the favorite of Western boys, and lived happily ever after.

In today’s China where appearance is justice, not only people have to strive for appearance, but down is no exception. Gray duck down is really more unfair than Dou E!