Collaborations

Our approach to sustainability has always been collaborative. We know that to have a deep and lasting impact as a business, we have to work closely with others.

Many of the regions in which tea and coffee is grown face big, systemic challenges, and to make meaningful changes we have partnered with others in our industry to combine our resources and increase our influence.

The Ethical Tea Partnership

It’s been over 20 years since we started working with the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP). We were founding members back in 1997, and our work with them stretches across many different projects and regions.

Through the ETP we’ve been able to partner with our suppliers and other tea companies to champion and support initiatives responding to the major social and environmental challenges facing the tea industry. With the ETP, we’ve worked on projects to empower workers in Assam, helped to close the living wage gap in Malawi, developed farmer livelihood programmes in Rwanda and looked at workers’ rights issues in Kenya.

The British Coffee Association

The British Coffee Association (BCA) serves as the voice of the UK coffee industry, representing its members in order to foster a favourable environment for all aspects of the industry. The BCA protects and promotes coffee to regulators, politicians, the media, and the public and ensures an accurate understanding of coffee on behalf of its members.

World Coffee Research

We sit on the board of World Coffee Research (WCR) — an organisation set up in order to ensure the future of coffee is protected. Their aim is to grow, protect and enhance the supply of quality coffee across the world while improving the livelihoods of those who produce it. WCR collaborate with farmers and industry partners on their research and it’s very much needed, as coffee is already suffering from the effects of climate change and is susceptible to diseases that can destroy whole farms.