Earth Equity News

Tetley Tea Agrees to Sustainable Guidelines. By Marcy Nicholson, Reuters, February 17, 2010. "The world's second biggest tea company Tetley will source all of its branded tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by 2016, both groups said on February 17. The first certified products will be sold in the United Kingdom foodservice sector by this April and in Canada by early 2011. In 2012, Rainforest Alliance Certified Tetley tea will branch out to the United States, Australia and mainland Europe, Tetley said in a release... Rainforest Alliance is a New York-based organization that certifies a variety of farms around the world, which meet the specific environmental, social and economic standards of the Sustainable Agriculture Network. These standards include worker rights and safety, water and soil conservation, wildlife protection, and legal wages... Currently 75 million cups of Tetley tea are consumed globally every day. Tetley sells black, green, red, flavored and decaffeinated teas, and has a presence in 70 countries. There are currently 215,000 acres of Rainforest Alliance-certified farms in Kenya, Tanzania, Argentina, India and Indonesia. The majority of Tetley tea will continue to come from Kenya, Malawi and North India."