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TEA: A Challenge for the Fair Trade Model |
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Written by Rink Dickinson and Deepak Khandelwal
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Over the past five years the Fair Trade movement has experienced an unimaginable
level of success. As Fair Trade grows and mainstreams over the next few years,
there will be an increasing struggle to control its definition. Some changes have already taken place that are influencing its future direction. A few years
ago, in a controversial move, one of the two Fair Trade certifiers changed a key requirement when they constructed the Fair Trade model for tea. They decided that due to the scarcity of small farmers in the major tea producing countries such as India and Sri Lanka, the model would revolve around plantations rather than small farms. In addition, a vague “higher than normal” price replaced the easily verifiable “minimum price” requirement. The result was a certification that has significantly different standards than its coffee counterpart.
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Equal Exchange staff members Deepak Khandelwal and Rink Dickinson
traveled to India this past spring to visit with our tea partners. They are shown here making a presentation to the members of the Mineral Springs Cooperative.
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By focusing the Fair Trade model on plantations, small farmers already weak in the tea economy, were further marginalized. The current tea model does allow money to return to the gardens and helps farmers to develop their voice. It allows a great deal of plantation tea to be sold as a Fair Trade due to the looser requirements. However, the present Fair Trade tea model has lowered the standard and has opened the door for other “plantation grown” products such as grapes, citrus, apples, and bananas to be allowed into the Fair Trade system.
In 1998, Equal Exchange entered the tea market because we saw an opportunity to work with the small farmers of the Mineral Springs Cooperative in Darjeeling. We visited the co-op this past April and observed the growth in the capacity of the co-op. But more importantly, we saw how co-op members were sharing their experience and knowledge with other small tea farmers. The Equal Exchange tea program has a strong network of support which also includes a larger partner, Tea Promoters of India (TPI), a group of six family-owned tea plantations that has an exemplary history of supporting alternative tea models.
Mission-driven Fair Trade organizations have played a key role in taking risks and creating a market for small farmer tea. Our allies in this work include organizations such as Equal Exchange (U.K.), SERRV (U.S.), and Alter Eco (France). But the most important allies for small farmer tea are food co-ops, natural food stores, and churches. The support of these groups will be vital in building the market and educating consumers, and in helping to make a small farmer Fair Trade tea a success. |
New Tea
Partners and Products
With the goal of increasing our
impact on small tea farmers we
are adding four new products
this spring that come largely
from small farmers. Each has a
compelling story.
• Organic Irish Breakfast Tea
This tea is a blend of small
farmer tea from the Sahyadri
Farmers Consortium in Kerala
in southern India (75%) and
garden tea from TPI in northern
India (25%). It has a distinctive,
bright character.
• Organic Green Magic Tea
This 100% small farmer tea is
from the Small Organic Farmers
Association in Sri Lanka (Ceylon).
It is sweet and vegetal in character
with a clean finish.
• Organic Rooibos Tea
This 100% small farmer Rooibos
tea comes from the Wupperthal
Tea Association in South Africa.
Rooibus or red bush tea, a distinct
herbal plant that has been cultivated
by African farmers for more
than a hundred years, produces
a rich, fruity, caffeine-free tea.
• Organic Loose-leaf Teas
Special selections of high-quality
loose-leaf teas from small farmers
will be packaged in 4 oz. containers
and will highlight seasonal
characteristics of the regions
from which they are derived.
We’d like to hear any of your thoughts
about Fair Trade tea standards and about
our new products. Please write to us at:
tea@equalexchange.com.
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Tea Trivia: What percent of the world’s supply of Fair Trade Certified™ tea comes from small farmer cooperatives? Less than 5%.
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