Where Does Tea Usually Come From?
Tea is usually grown in Asia, Africa, and South America. The four biggest tea-producing countries —China, India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka— account for 75% of the world’s tea production. But, the majority of British tea comes from African countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, and Malawi.
Tea is grown on plantations, also known as tea estates or tea gardens. These estates employ many workers from the local communities who handle everything from plucking leaves to fertilising crops, overseeing teams, and maintaining the estate.
The Old Way: How Brands Have Historically Bought Tea
Historically, tea brands have aimed to buy tea at the lowest possible price, working with hundreds of estates to blend leaves into their best recipes. This model, unfortunately, puts tea estates at the mercy of these large tea brands, leading to:
- Lack of Loyalty: Brands often switch estates if they find cheaper tea (of the same quality and a similar taste) elsewhere, leaving estate owners vulnerable to financial instability.
- Fluctuating Prices: Competition among estates to attract brands can drive market prices below the cost of production, causing financial losses for estates.
This unstable pricing and lack of planning mean that tea estates rarely have the financial capacity to focus on the well-being of their workers as much as they need to, which compromises women’s safety across the industry.
Does This Affect Tea Workers and Their Well-Being?
The short answer is yes, it does hurt tea workers.
The tea industry provides numerous jobs in local communities, and the daily salary for these roles, even if low, is higher than other agricultural jobs in the area. This is because there are extreme levels of unemployment in such remote locations. However, the price fluctuations and lack of stability with tea sales for plantation owners mean they can rarely offer permanent contracts to most employees, or make other sorts of long-term investments for their wellbeing.
In Kenya, for example, people work for three months without knowing when they’ll have their next job, and may not be able to access employee benefits while out of work. Given it’s difficult for tea workers to earn enough to sustainably provide for their families, there is a lot of pressure to find and keep jobs in plantations for tea workers.
Here are some of the averages that tea workers make a day, across some of the largest tea-producing regions in the world:
- In India, tea plantation workers earn approximately $2.80 a day.
- In Kenya, the daily wage for tea workers can be as low as $6.50 a day.
- In Sri Lanka, tea pluckers may earn around $5.50 a day.
Even with unions negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreements (also known as CBAs), tea workers have very little power to voice their concerns or negotiate for higher wages and better working conditions to supervisors or middle management as they are often afraid to lose their jobs or not get re-hired during the next season. This power imbalance puts workers at the mercy of the tea estates, especially since these communities have few alternative job opportunities (or opportunities that happen to pay more).
Additionally, men often hold leadership positions on tea estates. In contrast, women typically hold labour-intensive, poorly paid, roles such as tea picking and production (in some countries this makes up to 50% of general labour). This creates an environment ripe for abuse of power, including sexual violence and harassment toward women. Not to mention, male tea pickers are also subject to abuse of power.
What’s worse is, that even if estate owners or higher management are aware of the risk of these issues, their financial instability prevents them from effectively preventing, identifying and addressing them, leaving the cycle of abuse to continue.
The Solution: Typhoo’s New and Improved Model
We have completely redesigned our supply chain to prioritise the safety of women tea workers and tackle sexual violence on tea estates. We aim to provide tea estates with the financial stability and support they need to tackle this issue by working with them as a dedicated partner. Here’s what we’re doing differently:
- Long-Term Contracts and Higher Payments: We’ve agreed to work with our partner tea estates for a number of years, ensuring they are guaranteed business. We also pay higher prices for raw tea, promoting the sustainability of plantations committed to stopping violence against women.
- Focused Partnerships: By working with a select number of estates instead of hundreds, we can provide the external support needed to report, address and remedy cases of sexual violence effectively in tea communities all year round. The safety measures in place have been designed with the safety of victim-survivors of sexual violence in mind (however, any other worker who has experienced abuse, maltreatment or injustice could use them).
- Introduction of the Fear Free Council: Women’s safety is at the heart of all our business decisions. The Fear Free Council was founded to maintain this commitment, working closely with tea growers to implement safeguarding measures and provide support. They will guide and challenge us to ensure our approach is as good as it should be and that the safeguarding measures implemented will be right.
This added layer of support allows the tea estates we partner with to prioritise the well-being of their workers and the surrounding tea communities, ensuring a safer environment for workers and others.
To tackle the issue of sexual violence within the tea industry, we know that brands need to make changes to their supply chain and make sure that consumers are more aware of the social impact of who they buy their tea from.
Our new approach sets a precedent for a more ethical and sustainable tea industry. By prioritising the safety and well-being of workers, especially women, we are not only improving conditions on tea estates but also setting a standard for others to follow to ensure that the tea industry is truly fear-free.
How the tea industry works: The Old Way vs. Typhoo’s Model
Is Your Tea Fear Free?
It’s important for us to all consider the journey of our tea from the plantation to the cup. The traditional model that brands follow to buy tea at the lowest prices has left tea estates financially unstable, compromising the well-being of workers, especially women who are often at the receiving end of abuse.
By choosing tea from companies that prioritise ethical practices and worker safety, consumers like you can help create a more sustainable and fear-free tea industry. Next time you sip your tea, ask yourself… is my tea really fear-free?