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Unilever, the world’s largest buyer of black tea, is to source its entire tea supply using Rainforest Alliance standards, starting with the certification of producers in east Africa.
The Rainforest Alliance, a US-based non-governmental organization, has audited coffee, cocoa, banana and forestry estates, but has not previously certified tea farms. The organization’s best-known corporate relationship has been with the banana company Chiquita, which improved its ethical performance with Alliance guidance over a number of years.
To meet the Alliance’s certification standards, farmers undertake to carry out ‘continuous improvements’ in worker welfare, farm management and environmental protection. They must, among other things, rely less on pesticides, pay ‘decent wages’ and give tea plantation workers access to good housing, education and healthcare.
Unilever claimed its decision had the potential to ‘transform the tea industry’ because it is so prominent in the sector. However, it warned that certifying all its sources of tea would be a long process.
The first farm to be audited will be Unilever’s own tea estate in Kericho, Kenya. It will be followed by other tea farms in Kenya, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, involving two million workers.
The first certified Unilever tea is likely to be available to restaurants and the catering trade in Europe this summer. The company aims to have all its Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in western Europe certified by 2010 and all Lipton tea bags globally certified by 2015. Unilever expects Alliance-certified tea to command prices 10 to 15 per cent higher than present average auction prices, but says it will absorb extra costs of about £3.4m in total up to 2015 so consumers will not pay more.
Unilever is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, which also works on conditions in the tea supply chain. But it has set up the new arrangement separately, with the ETP’s blessing.
The Rainforest Alliance, a US-based non-governmental organization, has audited coffee, cocoa, banana and forestry estates, but has not previously certified tea farms. The organization’s best-known corporate relationship has been with the banana company Chiquita, which improved its ethical performance with Alliance guidance over a number of years.
To meet the Alliance’s certification standards, farmers undertake to carry out ‘continuous improvements’ in worker welfare, farm management and environmental protection. They must, among other things, rely less on pesticides, pay ‘decent wages’ and give tea plantation workers access to good housing, education and healthcare.
Unilever claimed its decision had the potential to ‘transform the tea industry’ because it is so prominent in the sector. However, it warned that certifying all its sources of tea would be a long process.
The first farm to be audited will be Unilever’s own tea estate in Kericho, Kenya. It will be followed by other tea farms in Kenya, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, involving two million workers.
The first certified Unilever tea is likely to be available to restaurants and the catering trade in Europe this summer. The company aims to have all its Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in western Europe certified by 2010 and all Lipton tea bags globally certified by 2015. Unilever expects Alliance-certified tea to command prices 10 to 15 per cent higher than present average auction prices, but says it will absorb extra costs of about £3.4m in total up to 2015 so consumers will not pay more.
Unilever is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, which also works on conditions in the tea supply chain. But it has set up the new arrangement separately, with the ETP’s blessing.
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