Organic fair trade tea delivers benefits to both the environment and the farmer who grows it.
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It is tea that is grown organically and for which the farmer receives a fair sales price for growing it.
Organic tea, as you can tell by the name, is tea grown without chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. It is safer for the farmer, eliminating the negative side effects of working with harmful chemicals. It also helps preserve our fragile ecosystem, preventing chemicals from entering water supplies, destroying soil quality, and other damaging effects.
But fair trade is a bit more complicated, involving business and ethics.
Fair Trade Tea
There has been a history of labor issues and unfair trade practices in the global tea industry.
While the price you and I pay for tea has remained relatively stable over the years, the amount the farmers earn has declined. Most tea grows in developing countries where farmers live in poverty and lack.
As a result, the tea that we enjoy at home is grown and harvested by farmers who live in conditions we would consider to be squalor and depressing.
This is how Fair Trade tea helps…
Fair trade means paying farmers a minimum fair wage for their work and providing them with fair labor practices. This allows them to live above the poverty line and improve their communities.
In addition to a minimum wage, farmers also receive a premium to invest in their farms and communities. As a community, they vote on how to invest their Fair Trade premiums in education, health, business skills, and protecting the environment. These programs include things like cooking stoves, new schools, mosquito nets, college scholarships, medical care, and new roads.
Becoming Fair Trade certified…
To become Fair Trade certified, importers must meet strict standards.
Some of these standards include:
- Signing a Fair Trade USA certification and licensing agreement.
- Paying the annual importer fee of $500 to Fair Trade USA.
- Purchasing Fair Trade Certified tea from Fair Trade producer groups or exporters certified by FLO-Cert.
- Selling Fair Trade Certified tea to other Fair Trade registered traders and operators.
- Paying at least the Fair Trade minimum price and the designated Fair Trade premium to the certified Fair Trade producer group.
- Submitting quarterly reports to Fair Trade USA on imports and sales of Fair Trade Certified tea.
Selling Fair Trade tea…
Sellers of tea also much meet strict standards in order to sell Fair Trade tea.
Some of these standards include:
- Signing a Fair Trade USA certification and licensing agreement.
- Purchasing Fair Trade Certified tea from a registered importer.
- Submitting a product profile application for each product to be labeled.
- Submitting all packaging, sales and marketing materials carrying the Fair Trade Certified logo to Fair Trade USA for approval.
- Submitting quarterly reports on Fair Trade Certified tea purchases and product sales.
- Undergoing, and complying with, regular desk audits and on-site audits.
While it can cost a bit more to purchase organic fair trade tea, the benefits to the environment and the workers greatly exceed the cost.
