Join our mission as a company

Large brands and retailers

Large brands and retailers are increasingly acknowledging that their tea supply chains represent the highest risk for human rights abuses, as borne out by THIRST’s human rights impact assessment of the sector. Investors, customers and potential employees are also keenly aware of these issues.

By joining THIRST’s mission, your company can demonstrate its leadership in the field of ethical trade in the tea sector and make genuine progress in protecting and respecting the human rights of tea workers and farmers. Some examples of how you could do this are given below.

• Provide THIRST with data from your business to help analyse issues such as gender balance, share of value etc.
• Participate in joint platforms with other buyers and stakeholders to enhance the impact of your ethical trade work in tea and ensure deep system change.
• Engage in dialogue with civil society about the needs of tea workers and farmers and support them in their efforts to call for systemic change.

Small and/or specialty brands and retailers

There is growing demand for specialty tea, which comes with an assumption that the tea will not only be organic, but that it is grown and processed in a way that respects the rights of workers and farmers. Many specialty tea brands and retailers have told THIRST that they buy their tea from suppliers who visit the estates regularly and check that this is the case. A common phrase we hear is that “all the boxes are ticked”. But sadly this is often unlikely to be the case.

As demonstrated through THIRST’s research into human rights in the global tea sector, low pay, discrimination, gender based violence and more are rife throughout the industry due to the deeply embedded systems of the industry.  Working with THIRST and in collaboration with fellow specialty tea brands will help you to get a much clearer picture of the conditions under which your tea is produced and to support efforts to improve the lives of tea workers and farmers. You will then be able to tell your customers with confidence that your tea is ethically sourced. Some of the ways you could join THIRST’s mission are given below.

• Join with other buyers from your supply chain to assess the human rights risks and impacts.
• Participate in joint platforms with other specialty tea brands to share lessons and collaborate on initiatives to support the workers and farmers that produce your tea.
• Raise awareness among tea enthusiasts about the challenges of the industry and what could be done to address them.

Tea plantations

The 19^th century tea plantation model is currently colliding head-on with 21^st century expectations from your labour force, your customers and the media. Expectations that your workers’ human rights are fully realized.

These expectations come at a time when plantations are facing many challenges; notably low tea prices, stagnant demand, climate impacts, and rising costs – particularly labour costs – and that these challenges make it hard to meet those human rights expectations.

Yet if they were met, it could help to resolve issues such as labour shortages, disruption to business through industrial unrest and reputational damage from adverse media reports.

Tea plantations could join THIRST’s mission by doing the following:

• Respond to THIRST’s tea producer surveys to help ascertain the extent to which buyers help or hinder producers’ ability to provide their workers with better pay and conditions.
• Facilitate workshops and projects by civil society actors on your plantation with your workers that will both help to deepen understanding and to address challenges.
• Provide THIRST with data that will contribute to understanding about issues such as how the value of tea is shared; gender balance in the workforce; how climate impacts are affecting your workforce.

Small tea farms and cooperatives

As the number of smallholder tea farms grows across the world, there is increasing attention on you and on the human rights challenges that may exist for you. These may be your own human rights – for example the right to earn a living income, or of your family members who may be at risk of unpaid labour or child labour, for example. Or there may be concern over the human rights of seasonal workers employed by you – their pay, their accommodation etc.

Meanwhile as farmers you are tackling the multiple issues involved in farming, dealing with the impacts of climate change on your crops, negotiating a reasonable price for your tea, transporting it to the factory etc.

By collaborating with THIRST you will be joining a network of individuals and organisations who are working to support you in protecting both your own human rights and those of your family and your workers.  Contact THIRST to discuss how best we can support you.