Twinings sources teas from dozens of plantations and small farms in China, Kenya, India, Malawi, Indonesia, Argentina and Sri Lanka. Image credit: TwiningsTwinings' focus areas are: Living Standards, Livlihoods and Life Opportunities. Image credit: Twinings
Twenty years ago, Twinings was a founding partner of the Ethical Tea Partnership, which brought
Xiao is a young mother in China's Cangyuan County. Photo credit: Save the Children
tea-buying companies together to improve tea workers’ lives. The Ethical Tea Partnership oversees projects addressing workers’ rights and tea estates’ living conditions and provides training on factory safety and environmental management.
Twinings has partnered with Save the Children in China’s Yunnan province for more than 12 years. The project provides training to rural health care providers. The training covers vaccinations, breastfeeding, and how to identify and treat childhood illnesses. This program enables health care providers to give higher quality health care to children and mothers.
Twinings’ social programs extend to India, too. The company partnered with UNICEF in Assam and with Mercy Corps in Darjeeling. UNICEF and the Assam Branch of the Indian Tea Association formed Adolescent Girls Groups on tea estates. These clubs strive to empower girls who live on the estates by addressing issues of safety, nutrition and education. With Mercy Corps, Twinings provided alternative forms of employment for tea estate workers during the low season. The partnership with Mercy Corps also addresses water sanitation and promotes hygiene awareness.
All Twinings suppliers must sign a code of conduct that forbids forced labor.
Twinings has third-party auditors conduct supplier audits —on an unannounced or semi-announced basis—that include worker interviews. From October 2014 to September 2016, Twinings’ Sourced with Care Program completed 190 audits.
Twinings parent company, ABF plc, offers training to UK-based suppliers and contractors about issues of modern slavery. It plans to offer its programs to international suppliers in 2017.
