Unilever makes sustainable tea promise

Unilever has made a commitment to purchase all its tea from “sustainable, ethical sources” through the introduction of a new certification scheme.

Ultimately, it will only source tea from tea farms certified by the Rainforest Alliance, which does similar work in the coffee and fruit trade. The first certified tea will be made available to restaurants and the catering trade in Europe from August 2007.

The audit covers social, economic and environmental factors including water conservation, wildlife protection, fair treatment and good working conditions for workers, and soil management and conservation.

Based on Rainforest Alliance experience with other crops, it is expected that certified tea will command prices 10-15% higher than current average prices paid at auction. Unilever estimates that it will be paying farmers about €2M more for its tea by 2010 and about €5M more by 2015.

The aim is to have all Lipton Yellow Label and PG Tips tea bags sold in western Europe certified by 2010 and all Lipton tea bags sold globally by 2015.

Unilever chief executive Patrick Cescau said: “This decision will transform the tea industry, which has been suffering for many years from oversupply and underperformance.

“It has the potential to reassure consumers about the source of the tea they enjoy drinking so much; to improve the crops, incomes and livelihoods of nearly 1M people in Africa and, eventually, up to 2M people around the world; to protect the environment from a further drain on its resources and to provide us with a means by which we can differentiate our brands from those of our competitors.”