Finlays and The Co-operative

Leading tea supplier Finlay Beverages,  is working with Fairtrade supermarket The Co-operative and the Kenya Cooperative College to deliver the benefits of both Fairtrade and the co-operative business model to secure long-term sustainable livelihoods for small-scale tea farmers in Kericho, South-West Kenya. At the start of the project around 11,000 smallholders spread around Finlay’s own Estate supplied the Company with tea leaf. This was organised by Finlays through a network of buying centres and Finlays offered additional services to farmers, in particular the sale of fertiliser at cost price.

This project is empowering these farmers by supporting the emergence of cooperatives to represent them and sell their tea to Finlays and to others rather than relying on each having an individual arrangement with the Company. This new model also enables the smallholders to achieve Fairtrade certification and potentially to diversify into additional products and provide other services. The project is assisting farmers to organize themselves into producer co-operatives, achieve Fairtrade certification and trial new products to develop additional supply chain links for fresh produce to UK retailers.  The project will provide a risk mitigation strategy against the prevailing mono-cropping of tea in the project area and will deliver greater potential for profitability and access to new markets for the farmers involved.

To date the project has engaged has helped to establish five cooperatives.  These co-ops have started trading and Finlays no longer buy tea from individual suppliers. All the co-ops have achieved Fairtrade certification and are now selling Fairtrade tea to the UK.  The first Fairtrade teas from the farmers were packed into the Co-op 99 product on 10th February 2012.  In addition to this, some co-ops are involved in various additional income- generating activities: manufacture of green sacks, plucking baskets and Protective clothing for the farmers, and in selling of made tea.

This year with the assistance of Finlays Horticulture Kenya field assessments have taken place to see the potential of growing export vegetables for the UK. Initial varieties have been assessed for growing and selected. To assess the export potential a pilot will be undertaken with planting to take place in October and for the trial period to continue through to next April. Farmers from the co-operatives have been selected for the pilot and if successful hopefully full commercial operations can thereafter be introduced.