24 Feb 2010 --- Sara Lee, global manufacturer and marketer of high quality consumer products, announced that it has sourced the first sustainable tea approved by its partner UTZ CERTIFIED, a certification program which shares Sara Lee’s commitment to making the mainstream tea market more sustainable. The successful completion of UTZ CERTIFIED audits in Joure, Indonesia and Malawi will allow Sara Lee, which sells its tea under flagship brands such as PICKWICK and HORNIMANS, to purchase 2,000 tons of certified tea to market in 2010, comprising one third of the company’s total European tea volume.

This commitment fits with Sara Lee’s companywide efforts to further increase the sustainability in coffee and tea. Earlier this year Sara Lee announced plans to source 40,000 tons of sustainable coffee in 2010, 33% greater than its previous commitment of 30,000 tons in 2009.

“At Sara Lee we’re very happy to be able to bring sustainable tea to our leading PICKWICK and HORNIMANS brands in the European market,” said Frank van Oers, CEO International Beverage and Bakery at Sara Lee. “Our long-term vision is to source all of our tea from sustainable sources, and we plan to steadily increase the proportion that we buy.”

To enable the sourcing of sustainable tea, Sara Lee has supported certification for major estates in Indonesia and Malawi, and secured certification also for its tea factory in Joure. Furthermore the company invested with the Douwe Egberts Foundation (www.defoundation.org) to support farmers with training to fulfill the necessary requirements for certification.

Sara Lee’s sustainable tea programs are part of the Tea Improvement Program of the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative. This program enables the major stakeholders in the tea sector to join forces in stimulating sustainable trade. Sara Lee is also a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership, an international non-commercial alliance of 20 tea-packers, with a vision for a
thriving global tea sector that is socially just and environmentally sustainable.