Tetley Launches the First Packs of Rooibos Tea to Carry the Rainforest Alliance Certified Seal

Tetley Rooibos packs carrying the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal and carrying 100% certified content will also launch in other Tetley markets in the coming months.

Oct 10 2011 --- The first packs of Rooibos (Redbush) tea sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms are now in production at Tetley’s UK factory, destined for supermarket shelves in the UK and Europe from the end of October.

This marks a major milestone for Tetley’s certification programme with the Rainforest Alliance and a first for the global tea sector. Tetley Rooibos packs carrying the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal and carrying 100% certified content will also launch in other Tetley markets in the coming months.

Tetley’s decision to purchase all of the tea for its branded teabag and loose tea products from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms is a significant commitment that is having a wide-reaching and positive impact across Tetley’s supply chain and the global tea industry, given that 75 million cups of Tetley are drunk around the world every day.

All Tetley branded black, green and red tea, including flavoured and decaffeinated varieties are part of its certification programme with the Rainforest Alliance which is due to be completed by 2016.

Rooibos is only grown in the Cedarberg area of South Africa, 200km north of Cape Town, and no alternative source of supply of this unique product is available anywhere in the world.

To communicate its collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance, Tetley has developed an innovative social media initiative facilitated by Facebook called Farmers First Hand. It allows consumers to communicate directly with tea producing communities who are working towards gaining Rainforest Alliance Certified status for their farms. Launched in February, the Facebook page now has over 12 000 fans.

Percy Singanporia, Deputy CEO of Tata Global Beverages, which counts Tetley amongst its brands, said:

“Launching Rooibos made with tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms marks a major milestone on our journey to becoming a more sustainable brand for Tetley as well as creating a more sustainable global tea sector for the future.

Our Tetley commitment means that the number of cups of tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms will increase to circa 100 million in the UK. Supporting farms to become Rainforest Alliance Certified benefits our business, the tea estates and the tea pickers we work with. Over 82,000 smallholder farmers have been trained under the 2010/11 certification programme with Rainforest Alliance.”