What can the tea sector learn about sustainability from palm oil?

Palm oil and tea have very different supply chains but both face long-standing sustainability and human rights challenges.

The complexity of the palm oil supply chain has forced parts of the sector to find new ways of addressing these challenges. This has included looking beyond certification, changing established operating models and working collaboratively on problems that cannot be solved by one company alone.

Tea’s supply chain is slightly more straightforward and many of its systemic challenges are already widely understood. The comparison raises an important question for the sector: if the problems and many of the possible solutions are known, what is preventing change from happening at the scale needed?

The webinar will compare the sustainability challenges facing palm oil and tea and look at what tea can learn from the way the palm oil sector has responded.

We will explore:

• why certification alone is not enough to address systemic sustainability and human rights challenges
• how changes to operating models can help tackle problems that have persisted for years
• the role of collaboration and pre-competitive approaches in addressing shared challenges
• how the cost and responsibility for change can be shared across an industry
• why solutions need to be economically viable if they are to move beyond individual initiatives and become mainstream practice
• which lessons from palm oil could realistically be applied to tea

Whether you work in the tea industry, sustainability, responsible sourcing, human rights, research or civil society, this webinar offers an opportunity to learn from another sector’s experience of tackling complex and persistent challenges.

The session will also give you the opportunity to put your questions directly to Thibault with experience of working across both palm oil and tea.

You will come away with:

• a fresh perspective on what it takes to address systemic problems
• practical lessons on collaboration and pre-competitive working
• a better understanding of why changing business practices may be necessary alongside certification
• insights into what makes sustainability approaches economically viable and scalable
• ideas to take back to your organisation and consider in the context of the tea sector

Thibault Gravier, Sustainability Leader and CEO of leading sustainability consultancy Reset
Thibaut has over 20 years’ experience supporting the private sector to improve sustainability across complex global supply chains with extensive experience in sustainable palm oil sourcing. His work has included spending time on the ground in palm oil plantations and supporting companies to address sustainability challenges within their supply chains.

He also has several years’ experience working with the tea industry all along the supply chain from producers/smallholders to retailers. His knowledge of both sectors gives him a valuable perspective on their different supply chains, the systemic challenges they face and the approaches that could help drive change.

This webinar speaks particularly to root causes linked to:

• Business models and purchasing practices: looking at why tackling systemic problems may require changes to established ways of operating rather than relying on certification alone.
• Lack of sector-wide collaboration: examining how pre-competitive approaches can help organisations work together on problems that no single company can solve alone.
• Unequal distribution of costs and responsibility: considering how the investment and responsibility needed to support more sustainable practices can be shared across industry players.