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RealiTEA – The Bitter Compromise in our Cup of Tea

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Hand Picked TeaCafédirect recently revealed the uncomfortable truth lurking behind Britain’s favourite beverage, a good old cuppa of tea. I am a tea lover myself, but I have begun to question is a cup of tea really worth such a bitter compromise?

A new investigation by Cafédirect has exposed the true extent of the crisis facing the treasured cuppa. Whilst the cost of growing tea has soared by as much as 94% in the past five years, crippling smallholder growers, the market hasn’t been keeping pace, with prices paid to these growers increasing by a measly 25%.  Compare that to the price of tea on United Kingdom’s shelves, which has risen by just 3.8% over the last three years.

In its new report, RealiTEA, Cafédirect reveals that in order to offer tea at the low prices seen on the United Kingdom’s supermarket shelves, compromises have to be made. These compromises usually come at the expense of the farmers at the beginning of the supply chain and directly impact on the quality of tea that ends up in the cup. For an industry worth an astonishing £629M in the United Kingdom, this is quite simply shocking. In contrast, for every box of Cafedirect Hand-Picked Tea sold, 22.5% goes directly back to the smallholder tea cooperatives!

Alarmed by the situation facing their smallholder tea partners, and the future of a good cup of tea, Cafédirect conducted a series of in-depth interviews with tea growers from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Tea PickersTheir responses showed that the traditional, artisan skill of hand-plucking the tender top two leaves and a bud (widely considered the only part of the plant suitable for making tea) is being fast replaced by far less accurate machine-cutting. Machine cutting is the standard for mass market, low-grade tea, which results in twigs and the tougher lower leaves in tea bags.

Wilson Tugei, Chairman of the 100% member-owned Siret cooperative in Kenya, describes the extent of the impact to the smallholder growers:

The farmers often have to make compromises elsewhere. When prices are low or crops fail, farmers will have to sell their food stocks, fell trees to burn or sell for charcoal or they might resort to lease out their tea farms – often at a very low price.

John Steel, CEO at Cafédirect explains:

“The global tea industry is in crisis. Tea has long been considered a cheap commodity in the United Kingdom, a telling sign of a lingering colonial mind-set that distances consumers from the real value of tea, with many large companies exploiting local resources whilst reaping huge profits for themselves. Our demand for cheap goods is twisting and buckling the supply chain and we can’t just sit in a bubble and ignore it because it’s not on our doorstep.”

To show their support for smallholder tea growers, Cafédirect is asking British tea drinkers to make a pledge to ‘think before they drink’. The pledge celebrates the people behind our food and urges tea drinkers to stand up for a better brew!

The pledges collected will be shared with the tea industry to shape a future that is better for the farmer and ultimately delivers a much tastier brew for the tea loving public. So what are you waiting for? Please Pledge now at www.drinkbettertea.co.uk and make a difference!

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