• Kazi Yetu: Crafting Opportunity at Origin

    Tea Biz traveled to Tanzania in October to explore the tropical Usambara Mountains in the Tanga tea-growing region. I met with smallholder farmers, tea makers, traders, tea sellers, and the Tea Board of Tanzania members during my travels: The 14-family Lutindi cooperative invited me deep into the jungle to watch as they hand-rolled and wood-fired organic black tea that always sells out on “market day” in the local village.

    Kazi Yetu co-founder Tahira Nizari hosted the week-long trip. Nizari is a savvy business school graduate and humanitarian whose specialty tea brand advances the role of women in Tanzania’s tea industry. She retains value by locally processing, packaging, and blending tea with authentic spices, redistributing economic gain and opportunity for smallholders.

    Listen to the interview

    Kazi Yetu co-founder and CEO Tahira Nizari
    Tahira Nizari
    Tahira Nizari launched Kazi Yetu to benefit women in agriculture

    Value Addition at Origin Enhances the Lives of Tea Workers

    By Dan Bolton

    Kazi Yetu sources much of its tea from the Sakare farmer’s cooperative in the Usambara Mountains, a range in northeastern Tanzania that is 90 kilometers long and about half that wide. The Usambara Mountains are one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, with a virgin rainforest that rises to more than 7,500 feet (about 2,289 meters above the Indian Ocean). Organic-certified* teas are finished and transported to the port at Dar es Salaam, where 35 women blend, pack, and distribute tins and canisters. Teas are available globally in bulk, as a white label, and are sold directly to consumers online. The company is a registered B Corp that sources, processes, blends, and packs its teas entirely at origin using locally-grown inclusions in sustainable packaging. Kazi Yetu has a sales office in Germany and wholesale clients in the US, Africa, and the Middle East.

    Dan: Will you share with us the origin story of Kazi Yetu?

    Tahira: I started Kazi Yetu five years ago to create a sustainable and socially focused business. I wanted to support women in agriculture because women in Tanzania often lack jobs across the agriculture value chains. And I thought to myself, I can do this. I understand consumers around the world and what farmers need and can do.

    Kazi Yetu in Swahili means “our work.” And that’s really what we’re about. We never want to lose that vision about creating jobs for women.

    And so we started in 2018 in my dining room packing little tea bags at home, and then we got into my husband’s car [Hendrik Buermann is the co-founder]. Then, we drove across the country to farms, collected samples of teas of spices and herbs, and met with farmers.

    We came back and started blending our recipes. I’m a tea lover. So that was exciting. I love product development, playing with flavor profiles of different ingredients made here in Tanzania and grown here.

    And slowly, we started to expand. We created a really small factory, half of a house because I couldn’t pay for the whole house. And then, slowly, we moved to a larger warehouse. And now we’re in the factory that you have come to visit. We have 35 women employees and a solid team at the production and management levels.

    I’m excited that we’re working with over 2,500 smallholder farmers across Tanzania that produce tea, herbs, and spices. There’s tremendous potential here for tea, but it’s unrealized in many ways.

    Tea workers at weigh station
    Tea workers at the weigh station greeting visitors

    Dan: Many listeners have consumed Tanzania tea as a blend, unaware of its origin. In contrast, your teas are proudly Tanzanian, traceable, certified, and meet EU and US import standards.

    Tahira: Traceability is critical. The reason for that is manifold. We see consumers increasingly seeking to know their producers and the journey of their products from farm to table. We’re seeing a growing demand for that. But more important to us is to put a face and a name on our producers. And we believe that by doing that, we’re encouraging them to get more involved in quality and to be more connected with consumers. We can connect them with their consumers through a simple QR Code.

    Traceability is evolving — highlighting many different qualities and characteristics of the environmental and social sides. Consumers now ask what is the impact of tea production. What is the harvest period? What are the ecological conditions under which the tea herbs or spices were grown?

    Dan, Tahira cupping

    “We want to highlight that Africa’s agriculture can be wild, which we embrace.”

    Sakare factory manager Hekima Sanga, left

    We want to highlight that Africa’s agriculture can be wild, which we embrace. There are lots of wild and indigenous herbs and spices with variations between seasons and in terroir, with benefits of biodiversity. This variance is pleasingly unpredictable, and its traceability is illustrated through different batches. You could try a Ginger Mint Fusion, batch #73, and appreciate the balance of the green tea with the mint and learn about the farm and harvest season, and then you could try batch #96 with a balance and a stronger hint of rosemary and learn about the journey of that batch to your cup.

    Dan: We met with the Tea Board of Tanzania to discuss the challenges facing tea growers: low prices, high production costs, climate change, and a global glut of poor-quality tea. I left the meeting optimistic.

    Sakare workers, Tanzania tea farm
    Sakare tea workers, Tanzania tea farm. Photos by Dan Bolton

    Tahira: Tea is the fifth highest-earning crop in Tanzania. It’s a strategic export-oriented crop, and there’s also a lot of domestic consumption.

    Tea plays a pivotal role in the economy.

    There are more than 30,000 farmers involved in tea here. And so, you can imagine the magnitude of the volume, the opportunity for impact, and growth. The Tea Board of Tanzania regulates the tea sector, there is also the Tea Smallholder Development Agency, and then there’s a Tea Association of Tanzania.

    These bodies are very supportive of the growth of the tea sector. They’ve been supporting Kazi Yetu from day one.

    We were just a tiny business compared to the larger companies: You have Unilever here and many British-owned and Indian-owned tea companies.

    The board immediately understood our vision for specialty tea production and promotion. And they have been instrumental in helping us export our products and helping us influence policies that, you know, affect us and our farmers. So, I would say it’s a very positive and robust infrastructure here.

    I think there’s a lot of work to be done here to empower and support farmers and grow the reputation of Tanzania and its tea.

    Usumbara Mountains
    The Usambara Mountains in Tanga are one of six distinctive tea-growing regions supported by the Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency. The other regions are Mbeya, Iringa, Mjombe, Kagera, and Mara.

    Dan: The mountains here are misty and cool, with a dense jungle canopy. The rootstock is healthy, well-drained, and sound. Across the country along the shores of Lake Victoria, the Bukoba soil is dry, and the land is flat. In the south, the Lupembe highlands are steep, with slopes of up to 50 degrees.

    I sampled several styles of Tanzanian tea, from hand-rolled village market tea to well-crafted oolong, specialty blends, and factory CTC for export. I find the teas fresh, distinctive and well-presented.

     Will you describe what makes Tanzanian tea so tasty?

    Tahira: That’s a fantastic question.

    So, Tanzania has very different environmental conditions than your usual tea-growing countries. We have more shaded, more cloudy areas of tea production. We also have sunshine in more dry, arid regions. It is humid, and it’s sunny.

    The clonal varieties that thrive here are a mix of different cultivars from China and India. Hybrids have been researched and developed to succeed in these kinds of climates.

    I wouldn’t say it’s better or worse than other tea-producing countries, but Tanzania is different, and it’s an exciting distinction. 

    Tanzania tea has a brilliant color; it brings a nice bright color to the cup. It’s excellent for blending, so that’s what Kazi Yetu does: we blend it with herbs and spices. We also have our pure teas, our Kilimanjaro green tea, or Kilimanjaro black tea. We love getting consumers to taste cinnamon bark shavings from Zanzibar (known as Spice Island) or hibiscus iced tea lemonade. Other herbs and spices include ginger, peppermint star anise, lemongrass, and Moringa. There are lots of lovely ingredients to blend in with the Tanzanian teas.

    Kazi Yetu Blending and Packaging Facility

    Cylinders of Kazi Yetu tea
    Canisters of Kazi Yetu tea
    Kazi Yetu tea blending and packaging factory
    Tea packing machine
    Tahira in warehouse
    Tahira in warehouse
    Weighing inclusions
    Weighing inclusions at the Dar es Salaam factory

    Kazi Yetu’s Production Management Team

    • Ashley Speyer, COO
    • Emmy Manyelezi, Head of Projects
    • Joseph Kaluwa, Supply Chain Coordinator
    • Kalili Kafuku, Sales Manager Tanzania
    • Katharina Eichinger, Sales & Communications Europe
    • Lugano Jengela, Grants/Finance Manager
    • Saada Mlewa, Finance Officer
    • Stadia Kipangula, Production Supervisor
    Kazi Yetu line
    Kazi Yetu’s full range of sustainable products.
    • *Kilimo Hai certified (East African Organic Products Standard). Kilimo Hai is a peer-reviewed certification administered by the Tanzanian Organic Agriculture Movement. The company’s packing facility is seeking EU organic certification and hopes to extend that certification to all 18 of its suppliers.

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    In Tanzania, Kazi Yetu packages and distributes organic-certified specialty tea from high-potential cooperatives, redistributing economic gain to the farm level that empowers entrepreneurial smallholders eager to improve their livelihood. Share this story with your friends in tea.

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  • Dark Tea Reduces Risk of Diabetes | Kagoshima Exports | Consumers Feel Culpable for Climate Change

    Episode 137

    | A Daily Cup of Dark Tea Reduces the Risk of Diabetes: Researchers Demonstrate How Tea Helps Control Blood Sugar Levels
    | Mintel Consulting: Consumers Feel Culpable for Climate Change
    | Kagoshima Benefits from Diverse Tea Exports

    PLUS | “We started the UC Davis Global Tea Institute Professional Tea Program at the request of the tea industry,” says GTI Founder and Director Prof. Katharine Burnett. Leaders in their fields from Finlay Beverage, Starbucks, Peet’s, ITI, Empire Tea, Mother Parkers, Ito En, and Hamburg Teehandel present the 15 two-hour weekly sessions across a wide spectrum of topics, from history and culture to science, business, and health. The program is aimed at industry members seeking to deepen their foundational knowledge of tea.

    Tea News for the week ending Oct 6
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-minute Tea News Recap

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    Researchers Demonstrate How Tea Helps Control Blood Sugar Levels

    By Dan Bolton

    Drinking dark tea, a fermented favorite in China, significantly decreases the risk of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes regardless of weight, age, gender, high blood pressure, and family history.

    Researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia and Southeast University in China found that compared to never-tea drinkers, those consuming dark tea daily had a 53% lower risk for prediabetes and 47% reduced risk for type 2 diabetes.

    The paper, presented this week at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), said tea lowers the risk of diabetes with a long list of known risk factors, including fasting glucose levels, drinking alcohol, smoking, high cholesterol levels, and regular exercise.

    Associate Professor Tongzhi Wu from the University of Adelaide said, “The substantial health benefits of tea, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, have been reported in several studies over recent years, but the mechanisms underlying these benefits have been unclear.”

    “Our findings hint at the protective effects of habitual tea drinking on blood sugar management via increased glucose excretion in urine, improved insulin resistance, and thus better control of blood sugar. These benefits were most pronounced among daily dark tea drinkers,” he writes.

    A release summarizing the research explains that people with diabetes often have enhanced capacity for renal glucose reabsorption, so their kidneys retrieve more glucose, preventing it from being excreted in urine and contributing to higher blood sugar.

    “These beneficial effects on metabolic control may lie in the unique way dark tea is produced, which involves microbial fermentation, a process that may yield unique bioactive compounds (including alkaloids, free amino acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, and their derivatives)

    These compounds exhibit potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, improve insulin sensitivity and the performance of beta cells in the pancreas, and change the composition of the bacteria in the gut.”

    The study included 1,923 adults (562 men and 1,361 women aged 20-80 years) living in eight provinces in China. Participants indicated the frequency and type of tea consumed. Blood and urine tests measuring glucose excretion and related favorable effects were most robust for dark tea drinkers. 

    According to Associate Professor Wu: “These findings suggest that the actions of bioactive compounds in dark tea may directly or indirectly modulate glucose excretion in the kidneys, an effect, to some extent, mimicking that of sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors.

    This new anti-diabetic drug class is not only effective at preventing and treating type 2 diabetes but also has a substantial protective effect on the heart and kidneys.”

    The authors said drinking dark tea is a good blood sugar management tool, but you should consider your overall diet, too.

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  • Global Tea Institute: Professional Tea Program

    The Global Tea Institute at UC Davis is a hub connecting tea professionals and academics, a virtual campus enabling the creation and sharing of new knowledge about tea. Last week, the Institute conducted the first of 15 Professional Tea Program lectures in collaboration with tea industry experts. The live online learning advances the vision of a Certificate Program for tea professionals. The deadline to enroll is Oct. 10. 

    Listen to the Interview
    Katharine Burnett, Heather Ogle, and Brendan Shah discuss GTI’s new Professional Tea Program.
    Download Brochure
    Enroll Now
    GTI Tea Professional Training Program
    Professor Katharine Burnett, Founder, Director Global Tea Institute, UC Davis

    GTI Founder and Director Prof. Katharine Burnett explains, “We started the UC Davis Global Tea Institute Professional Tea Program at the request of the tea industry. The instructors are largely from the industry itself. And that means these are leaders in the field who can talk to you about the tea supply chain, blending or plucking, and transport. 

    Industry Leaders Share Knowledge from the Own-Lived Experience

    By Dan Bolton

    Fifty years ago, career tracks for tea professionals were the province of global brands and expansive plantations. Future executives were recruited young, rigorously trained, and tested. Aspiring brokers spent hours in labs refining their ability to discern tea quality and set market prices. Future managers assimilated a wealth of knowledge as leaf line supervisors in the fields and junior factory officers. There is no substitute for on-the-job experience, but the 15 industry veterans who teach the course engage in a lively exchange of information among peers, replicating the one-on-one training essential to building confidence when dealing with real-world situations.

    Reminder: Enroll by Oct. 10

    Dan: Our guests today are Professor KathArine Burnett, Founder and Director of the Global Tea Institute for the Study of Tea Culture and Science at UC Davis, and UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education Program Manager Heather Ogle, along with Brendan Shah, CEO of ITI (International Tea Importers) in Los Angeles.

    Katharine, will you tell us a little about the program?

    Prof. Katharine Burnett: We started the UC Davis Global Tea Institute Professional Tea Program at the request of the tea industry. It’s being organized with the help of our Continuing and Professional Education program here on campus at the University of California at Davis.

    I am thrilled to be the instructor of record. Our first session with Brendan SHAH was today (Sep 27, 2023). We’re off to a good start. The course is targeted to help people better understand tea and the tea industry.

    It doesn’t matter if you are a tea professional already, or you want to be a tea professional, or you happen to love tea and want to know more about it. The individual topics explain what tea is, what is the culture of tea, what is the deep history of tea, and the many complicated parts of the industry that helped get that tea from the farm to your cup in your home so that you can enjoy it.

    Dan: Heather, how does a career track for professionals fit into the university’s vision of continuing education?

    Heather D. Ogle: Our goal at the Continuing and Professional Education Division is to design programs that are beneficial to folks who are either career changers or those who want to gain knowledge to expand their business. Employers might want workers to know more about topics like tea production and blending.

    Those who take this program gain new skills. So, we make sure to include real-world instructors — people doing this work. Sitting with another working professional and talking back and forth works well. And that really resonates with our students because our students are already working professionals. They’re not college students. This is for adults.

    Dan: Who benefits the most from enrolling?

    Heather: It is aimed at a range. So it’s going to help if you have a little bit of experience in your pocket. But it’s okay if you come across some topics that are new to you. As Katharine mentioned, we are going from the soil to the cup. So we’re covering a lot of material here. You may not be an expert in some of it, and that’s okay. Even if you’ve been working in the tea industry for less than a year, you will benefit immensely from the deep dives that we do.

    Dan: Brendan, you have some of your employees taking this program. What are their profiles like?

    Brendan: We have a few employees taking the program. ITI is one of GTI’s Tea Advisory Committee members for the Global Tea Institute.

    Our team has helped shape the course and the topics we cover. My employees are taking it. We have somebody who just started two weeks ago and somebody who started a year ago. And one of our veteran team members knows more about it than I do!

    Dan: The lineup of trainers is awesome. If I were a startup and wanted to become a unicorn, that’s my team. Will you talk about what they have in common regarding the range of experience and accessibility because working professionals will need more detailed hands-on insights?

    Katharine: I’ll lead off, and then Heather and Brendan can chime in. I’m maybe the only professor addressing the group. The rest of the instructors are from the industry itself. These are leaders in the field who can talk to you about supply chain, blending or plucking, and transport. They have direct experience and know from their own experience what they’re talking about. And so they’re bringing this wealth of expertise to the classroom and the group. That is, frankly, pretty extraordinary.

    One of the benefits of the course is that every week, you have the instructor of the day, along with several of our tea advisory committee members, who are leaders of the tea industry nationally and globally.

    Brendan: I am one of the speakers that Katharine mentioned. The tea industry was very excited about supporting the Global Tea Institute, and when we designed this course, a big part was to get these big names in the tea industry.

    We found an expert in every single one of these topics. So we have people from James Finlays, a large multinational corporation. Starbucks and Peet’s are some pretty big, hard hitters. Then, we have people like Nigel Melican (Tea Craft), who’s well respected in the tea industry and is next to none regarding farm operations and how to get a tea farm up and running.

    We’ve found where the expertise is and used the weight of UC Davis to get them all into a Zoom Room to talk about what they love — tea.

    Heather: I would also highlight that, whether it’s farming that we’re talking about all the way down to actual marketing and branding of tea, we’ve got Rona Tison, the VP of Corporate Relations from Ito En. You’ve got your tea, your blending, and you love it, but how do you share that with the world and let them know how great it is so that you can really have that product get out there? Whatever the topic, we have found that expert globally to have these discussions, which is just so exciting.

    Dan: Katherine, give me one quick reason to enroll today.

    Katharine: One of the cool things about the course is the optional benefits — I can throw this in now — everyone is invited to come to campus at the end of the course, as a sort of capstone day for a full day on campus, and talk with these industry leaders and work with GTI’s collection of art and material culture and see the rare books that we are collecting ON TEA. These are some of the first books on tea in the European languages and some of the earliest books on tea in Asian languages, as well.

    There’s something special when you hold these books and objects in your hand. And you see these early drawings of tea plants and people’s early understandings of what is tea, and how we’re all continuing to strive for the same thing, whether it’s in the 16th century or today, it’s just, I don’t know, sharing that knowledge and that passion is, it’s just one of the coolest things about this course, I think. And it is a great opportunity for you!

    Related: Global Tea Institute

    Instructors (Links to Bios)

    • Will Battle
    • Paul Harney
    • Lalith Paranavitana
    • Bhavin Shah
    • Brendan Shah
    • Marcus Wolf
    • Helen Hume
    • Manik Jayakuman
    • Nigel Melican
    • Dil Senevirantne
    • Raj Vable
    • Katharine Burnett
    • Kevin Gascoyne
    • Paul Jefferies
    • Eliot Jordan
    • Scott Rimer
    • Rona Tison

    General Topics

    • The Human Relationship with Tea: History, Culture and Health
    • Science and Growth of Tea: Camellia sinensis, Sensory, Taste, Grading, Organics and Sustainability
    • Tea Production and Sales: Manufacturing, Safety and Regulation, Social Justice and Politics
    • The Business of Tea: Marketing, Brand Management, Distribution, Supply Chain and Value Adding to Tea

    GTI’s Professional Tea Program provides training across a wide spectrum of topics, from history and culture, to science, business, and health. It is aimed at industry members looking to deepen their foundational knowledge of tea.

    Class Description

    Open to all, including students, aficionados, and industry professionals. This 360° exploration of tea covers topics from the history and culture of tea to science, agronomy, marketing, and distribution. Classes combining online education’s convenience with the networking and learning benefits of live instruction over Zoom will deliver new insights into this field.

    Format & Fees

    This class is designed as an interactive, online experience with live Zoom sessions with our instructors and the students. Expect to spend approximately two hours a week in class discussions. Class sessions are recorded for later viewing. There is no outside classwork.

    Fees: $1,500 USD

    • This 15-week course will consist of 2-hour sessions every Wednesday from 9 – 11 a.m. PST. Classes started on September 27, 2023, and end January 17, 2024. (EXCEPTION: No class on 12/27/23 or 1/3/24.)
    • Students are encouraged to attend the UC Davis Global Tea Institute Colloquium the week following completion of the course.
    • Successful completion earns three continuing education units (CEUs). Serial No. 232SNF001

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  • India Abandons Bharat Tea Auction Experiment and Returns to English Auction Rules

    Episode 136

    | Retail Sales Projections are Ho-Hum for the Holidays: Sales growth adjusted for inflation will be in the single digits, the lowest growth rate since 2018
    | UC Davis Global Tea Institute Launches a Training Program for Tea Professionals

    PLUS | More than 30,000 tea workers and supporters, mainly from the indigenous Bataga Community living in Ooty, Kothagiri, and Coonoor in the Nilgiris mountains of South India, participated in a silent hunger protest on behalf of farmers. The demonstrations ended last week, but only after the High Court took cognizance of the petitions that urgently plead the case for fixing a minimum price for green leaf. Aravinda Anantharaman reports.

    Tea News for the week ending Sept 29
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-minute Tea News Update

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    Ho-hum holiday sales projected
    Holiday sales forecasts are in the single digits, online sales estimates are more upbeat.

    Retail Sales Projections are Ho-Hum for the Holidays

    By Dan Bolton

    North American consumers are “trading down,” leading to projections of ho-hum holiday sales based on pre-season surveys. 

    “Consumers are skittish, and retailers will have to be on their toes, focused on making sure the products and the prices are right,” writes Forbes, quoting marketers who anticipate “a modest increase in sales with narrowing margins.” 

    Adjusted for inflation, Bain & Company projects real US holiday retail sales in the low single-digits, well below the 10-year average and the lowest since the financial crisis. 

    Deloitte writes that holiday sales will likely increase between 3.5% and 4.6% in 2023. According to Deloitte, E-commerce holiday sales are projected to grow between 10.3% to 12.8% compared to the 2022 season.

    Overall, Deloitte projects holiday sales will total $1.54 to $1.56 trillion from November to January. In 2022, holiday sales grew by 7.6% and totaled $1.49 trillion in the same period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

    Deloitte forecasts e-commerce sales will grow to between $278 billion and $284 billion this season. A survey by Bankrate reveals that 39% of holiday shoppers plan to do most of their shopping online, while 23% plan to shop in person. 

    Bankrate found that 50% of holiday shoppers will begin before Halloween, with 12% starting as early as September. November is the busiest month for shoppers, but 13% percent say they don’t shop until December, according to Bankrate. 

    More than half (54%) say they feel financially burdened this year, with 33% saying inflation will change how they shop. Another 25% expect higher prices to strain their budgets, and 13% attribute their shopping stress to concerns they will be forced to spend more than they’re comfortable spending. 

    “While September feels early to be talking about holiday shopping, it’s very smart to start thinking about it well ahead of time,” writes Bankrate. 

    BIZ INSIGHT – Sales of conventional hot tea are flat. In contrast, globally, sales of functional teas are growing at a faster 6.4% pace that is expected to accelerate through 2027. The market for herbal teas will add $885 million in sales by 2027, according to Technavio. 

    “Millennials and baby boomers are expected to be the major customer base for the herbal tea market as they make up the majority of the current workforce,” according to Technavio.

    Shifting consumer preference towards online sales channels positively impacts the growth of the global herbal tea market, writes Technavio. Demand for herbal teas is expected to increase as consumers become more health conscious. Online channels offer consumers a wide range of products at discounted prices,” according to Technavio.  

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  • New Report Examines the Causes of Gender-based Abuse in Tea

    Episode 135

    | A 70-page case study explains the lapses at James Finlay Kenya that led to the BBC exposé Sex for Work: The True Cost of Our Tea
    | Tea Price Protests in South India Continue for the Third Week
    | High Temps Lower Yields of  Türkiye’s Black Sea Tea

    PLUS | This week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage Committee, meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, inscribed the Cultural Landscape of Old Tea Forests of Jingmai Mountain in China’s Yunnan Province as a World Heritage site.

    Tea News for the week ending Sept 22
    Hear the Headlines | Seven-Minute Tea News Recap

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    New Report by Women Working Worldwide and THIRST Examines Causes of Gender-based Abuse in Tea

    By Dan Bolton

    Widespread gender-based violence and harassment concealed in commodity supply chains withers in the public spotlight, according to a consortium of gender and tea sector experts. 

    This week, the consortium, led by Women Working Worldwide and THIRST, the International Roundtable for Sustainable Tea, published a report that “describes the underlying causes and multiple perilous risk factors associated with gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) for women producing and processing tea.” 

    The report opens with a case study of James Finlay Kenya, a company featured in the BBC Panorama exposé, “Sex for Work: The True Cost of our Tea,” aired in February 2023. 

    Titled “Consent. Just consent. Then you can come to work.” (a direct quote from the exposé),” the 70-page report scrutinizes the challenges within the tea sector, pinpointing how GBVH enablers manifest specifically within the tea sector. 

    An infographic developed by THIRST and WWW with tea sustainability expert Michael Pennant-Jones illustrates 15 “risk points” along the supply chain. Smallholders, for example, risk abuse due to invisibility and lack of coverage by labor laws. There is a power imbalance at weigh stations where clerks or supervisors determine daily payments. In the factory, women risk abuse associated with allocating tasks, shifts, and working hours. On plantations, women face domestic violence and abuse risks in allocating housing and security issues. 

    In a press release, the authors explain their roles in supporting James Finlay in formulating and assessing gender policies, so they are ideally placed to explore why they ultimately failed to protect women on these tea estates.

    “The document delves into James Finlay’s journey in establishing these policies and the supplementary measures taken to integrate women’s protection into their operations,” reads the release. 

    “A central issue highlighted is the persistently low wages for female tea workers, resulting in malnutrition, indebtedness, and the adoption of precarious survival strategies, such as transactional sex. Gender-based pay disparities exacerbate women’s vulnerability, with many relying on piece-rated plucking to bolster their earnings, even if they reside on the estate. Mechanization of harvesting further exacerbates the problem by rendering numerous women tea pluckers redundant, particularly in East Africa.

    Furthermore, women in the tea sector frequently shoulder sole responsibility for their families, managing both unpaid domestic care work and paid employment. This dual burden often confines them to abusive work environments. The report is available to download at no charge at www.THIRST.international or www.women-ww.org

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