The UK is one of the world's biggest tea importers and for many years Traidcraft has been at the forefront of the drive to ensure those who grow the tea get a fair price. Indeed, we have moved away from buying from large-scale plantations, instead our focus is on smallholder growers in both Asia and Africa where we find it easier to secure a wide range of different teas to blend and monitor the welfare of the people who help us produce them.
It's estimated that more than 20 million families rely on tea for their livelihoods worldwide and yet as the BBC report published on Tuesday shows, there are still major problems in the industry with many tea growers and workers experiencing extremely poor living conditions.
The injustices highlighted in the BBC report are what motivated Traidcraft to start working in the tea sector three decades ago to develop and pioneer what has now become a Fairtrade model. Traidcraft's approach has always been to work with smallholder tea growers who are often the most vulnerable in the supply chain.
This Fairtrade approach means that tea growers receive much more than the market price
Traidcraft fair trade tea was the UK's first fairly traded tea and the wide range of fair trade teas available today features 12 varieties including everyday tea, green tea, a premium blend African gold tea and the only 100% Tanzanian loose leaf teaavailable in the UK.
This Fairtrade approach means that tea growers receive much more than the market price. Traidcraft sources the majority of its tea from Fairtrade certified smallholder growers and has seen real benefits and progress enjoyed by tea growing communities as a result of Fairtrade.
It's not only important that you trust the organisation providing the certification, but also the brand of tea that you’re buying. You can trust Traidcraft.
In addition to this Traidcraft is helping smallholder tea growers in Bangladesh, India and Kenya through projects designed not only to provide a better level of income but also to change the balance of power in the supply chain. By forming groups of farmers, tea growers have a stronger voice and greater bargaining power which can lead to more fundamental change… and a better deal.
The above article first published on traidcraft.co.uk in Sep, 2015.
