Badminton mocked as becoming ‘rich people’s sport’ in China as shuttlecock prices surge

A price increase in the cost of badminton shuttlecocks in China is reported to have been caused by an unlikely suspect – declining pork prices.

The price for one of the most popular models of shuttlecocks from Japanese brand Yonex – the AS02- sold for 149 yuan (US$20.5) for a pack of 12 on Friday, representing a 24 per cent increase from a month ago, according to a price tracking chart from Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao.

Major shuttlecock producers in China- including Yonex, Double Happiness, Lingmei and Victor Sport – have all issued announcements on price increases of 20 per cent or more in the past weeks, according to the Shanghai-based The Paper.

And most blamed “raw materials” for the price increases.

“The price of low-end feathers have tripled, and the price of mid- to high-end feathers have at least doubled,” Anhui province-based shuttlecock factory owner Li Yang said, according to the Shanghai-based Liberation Daily newspaper.

Li added that goose or duck feathers are usually used to make shuttlecocks.

Lower-end priced shuttlecocks, which cost around 2 yuan (28 US cents) each, remained the same over the last month, Taobao’s sales data showed.

Liu Zengjin, a researcher from the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology Information, told the Liberation Daily last week that a possible change in the Chinese meat industry had contributed to the rising shuttlecock prices.

Liu said a fall in pork prices had led to higher demand for the meat, resulting in lower demand for duck and goose, meaning there are less feathers available for the production of shuttlecocks.

Pork prices in China fell by 2.7 per cent year on year in the first six months of 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said earlier this month.

But the ministry has reported a slight rebound in prices in the past weeks, with pork in China averaging 28.9 yuan (US$3.98) per kilogram in the second week of July, representing a 1.2 per cent increase from the previous week and a 24.2 per cent increase from the same period last year.

The trend has been noticed by Chinese badminton enthusiasts, who have started to complain on social media.

“Badminton has become an unaffordable sport for those earning a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan” has been a trending topic on Chinese social media platform Weibo for around two weeks.

The topic had been read by over 4 million users on the platform as of Friday.

“This has almost become like a rich people’s sport,” one user said on Weibo.

Badminton is one of the most widely played sports in China, with more than 30 per cent of young people considering it as one of their top three most played sports, the Shanghai-based iResearch Consulting Group said in 2022.

“The most direct impact is that the shuttlecocks at badminton clubs changed from the bigger brands like Yonex and Chaopai, to some second-tier brands or unknown brands,” said Beijing-based badminton coach Wei Zheng.

“This affects how I teach students because the quality control of these cheaper shuttlecocks are not as good or coherent, so it affects how they play when they are beginners.

“Also, this price hike ultimately adds to the cost of our coaching and how much we charge.”