Can TeaSwaps create fairer, more stable tea markets?

One of the root causes of human rights breaches in the tea sector that THIRST identified was the embedded trading systems of the industry. While auction systems can offer international market access and payment guarantees, they can also concentrate power among a small number of buyers and brokers, expose producers to extreme price fluctuations and limit smallholders’ access to affordable credit.

TeaSwaps were developed to reduce uncertainty rather than increase prices, enabling buyers and sellers to agree on fixed prices for defined volumes over set periods. Greater price certainty has the potential to support income stability, better financial planning and longer-term investment in farms, factories and workers.

• A clear understanding of how TeaSwaps work in practice Insight into why price volatility remains a major barrier to prosperity in tea
• What the pilots in Kenya, Sri Lanka and India revealed
• A realistic assessment of risk management  within existing trading systems
• A clearer view of what alternative market mechanisms could mean for poverty alleviation in tea

By attending this webinar, you will:

• Be better equipped to engage in informed discussions about market reform
• Gain deeper insight into how trading structures affect farmers’ incomes
• Understand how price-risk is managed in practice in the tea industry
• Strengthen your organisation’s responsible sourcing and due-diligence work

James Montlake is Portfolio Manager for the ART (Adjusted Risk Technology) systematic futures and options strategy at Advanced Alpha Advisers. His role is to develop and implement trading strategies in commodity futures on behalf of qualified investors. James previously worked as Senior Analyst at ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) where he focused on equity derivatives, particularly the inter-dealer price tool for large ticket and exotic options. While at ICE, James also worked on growing the exchange’s precious metals business, for example developing the LBMA Gold Auction, as well as the evolution of ICE LIBOR.

James left ICE to set up TeaSwap Ltd with the aim of helping primary tea producers in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka hedge their commodity price risk using OTC swaps. James has a BSc in Economics and an MA in Finance and Investment from the University of Nottingham, as well as achieving a level 1 CFA and a CISI Certificate in Financial Regulation. He is also a Series 3, NFA Member.

• Competition over collaboration
• Low price of tea