This project is about developing a sustainable supply of premium tea. This is being achieved through the introduction of a business model that guarantees quality and sustains it by sharing higher returns equitably amongst the tea producers, the factory operators and Bettys and Taylors (B&T). The project works as a partnership between B&T, OCIR Thé (The Rwandan national tea authority), the factory owners, the Rainforest Alliance and the farmers who supply the factories.
Great progress has been made. The Rainforest Alliance has been working with the farmers and factories to develop the local indicators to meet the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) standard to enable them to certify their tea. Farmers have been trained and solutions found to enable the new system to move forward. Auditors have now visited all three factories. B&T have been working with the factories to improve quality, identifying key issues that had been holding it back and ensuring that key investments are undertaken.
The result of this hard work has not only been that the quality of tea from the factories has improved, but B&T have been able to launch a Rwanda tea in the UK as one of their three ‘seasons pick’ offerings under their famous Yorkshire Gold brand. This Rwanda branded tea has been on the shelves of Waitrose and Morrisons since March 2010 and is now into its second season with significantly higher volumes and is selling very well. The three tea factories involved in the project have now been privatised and the new owners have approached B&T and Rainforest Alliance to introduce the same model in other factories that they own and with the farmers that sell to them.
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