I generally don't drink a lot of coffee or tea because my body can't handle the caffeine, but it is nice once in a while. I have heard some horror stories about the practices involved in tea and coffee production operations, and I have also heard of some really cool initiatives. One that is promoted by some great organizations like Oxfam and Engineers Without Borders is fair trade certification. Fair trade means the producers and everyone along the value chain for the good you are purchasing received fair treatment, including fair compensation for their work. Fair trade certification can be granted for all kinds of products. I have heard of soccer balls, clothing, bananas, coffee, tea, spices, rice, quinoa, grapes, and chocolate all coming in fair trade certified varieties. It often goes hand in hand with environmentally responsible practices (because most people that care care about both). Fair trade certification means an independent third party has investigated the production practices and verified that they are indeed fair trade. In general I attempt to bring about a better world by getting my purchased beverage in a "to stay" cup, and giving my business to places that are local, that sell fair trade and organic beverages, and that educate their customers about why these things matter.
Today I was talking with my wife and mother in law about the teas at a particular coffee shop which is marketing to the ethical consumer crowd. We thought their coffee was fair trade but weren't sure about the tea so I looked up the tea companies website. There was not a ton of info there either so I clicked on the "Contact Us" link and sent the email below. So I guess my attempt at a better world for today is to look for factual information on products marketed for being ethical, and to ask questions when the facts are sparse.
to:
friends2@mightyleaf.com
Hi,
I am curious about the practices of your tea growers. I recently explored the "community" section of your website but I still have some questions and concerns:
Why aren't your tea's fair trade certified? Have you considered pursuing certification?
What is being done to ensure environmental responsibility of your tea growers?
What is being done to ensure fair treatment and compensation of people involved in the production of your teas?
Do you have any third party oversight of your operations to ensure they are meeting your claims/policies?
Do you work with any local development experts to ensure your community involvement is appropriate and positive?
Thanks!
Justin
This is awesome, I love the tough direct questions: whammo! They basically say get your act together or else tell my why your act is already together: We groovy coffee-shop goers are more than just pretty faces!
ReplyDeleteLove it,
Ian E
a response. not sure if this cuts it or not, pretty good on the environmental front but not a lot of confidence in how their policies translate to action overseas...
ReplyDeleteDear Justin,
Thank you for your message today. We are currently in the process of incorporating Fair Trade practices into our business; however are not part of Fair Trade at this moment. X Tea Company is concerned with and respects the global environment we all live and work in. Below is some additional information about X Tea Company:
X Tea’s Commitment to Excellent Tea and Fair Treatment
X Tea selects and blends only the highest quality teas, grown and produced by the best estates around the world. We at X treat all our employees fairly, stemming from the tea plucker all the way to warehouse workers at our headquarters and up the chain of command within the organization. We do this through paying fair wages for our teas by ensuring that the standards of the workers are met through choosing only intermediaries to the tea fields who share our vision of fair treatment and wages.
We also achieve this by paying fair wages for the production and packaging of our products.
Benefiting Global and Local Communities
We are also committed to improving our local and global communities. Locally, this consists of reaching out through donations of tea to cancer-related causes as well as organizations benefiting children. Globally we seek to improve the conditions of our tea partners in select projects annually reaching out to key farms. This year’s projects, we are pleased to announce, will benefit tea partners in Sri Lanka with our assistance in building a school, and in sponsoring a Moroccan orphanage that we visited last year with conditions that drastically need improvement. In addition, and in celebration of a new vendor partnership with the Philippines, we sponsored several of the factory worker’s children’s education for 2007.
Organics
Where possible, we have introduced organics in our line insofar as we can maintain quality of the tea on a long-term basis. This has begun to translate into an organic line-up comprised primarily of single estate teas. When teamed up with our signature blends composed of multiple ingredients culminating in a complex multi-dimensional infusion, we feel this gives the best of both worlds: organic teas and artisan blends to whet the palate.
Biodegradable
Last year we transitioned over all of our Tea Pouches to a biodegradable material, composed of corn. Once wet, the pouches biodegrade over the course of a year. In 2006, the Specialty Coffee Association awarded us “Best New Product Packaging” for our biodegradable Tea Pouches. We were the first to market with an entire retail and foodservice line of biodegradable Tea Pouches. Each pouch is stitched with an unbleached, natural cotton string.
X Tea’s commitment to excellence extends from our selection of teas to the fair treatment of our employees and partners, as well as a respect and consideration for the environment. We strive for excellence in helping sustain vibrant communities both abroad in our partnering regions and locally where we plant our own roots.