Careers

Sourcing Sustainable Tea

The UK is a nation of tea drinkers, with millions of cups of tea being enjoyed daily. Launched in 1903, our Red Label tea is the oldest Sainsbury’s brand product still sold today.

Tea is grown all over the world on both plantations and by smallholder farmers. Around 13 million people are employed in the global tea sector1, however sourcing tea in a way that supports the people who grow it, whilst also protecting our planet, is not always easy. 

There are significant environmental and human rights risks in the tea supply chain, which the industry has been working together to tackle for decades. Environmental risks include the impacts of climate change, such as unpredictable weather patterns, extreme heat, and biodiversity loss, and human rights risks include gender-based violence and harassment of women working in tea, low wages and incomes, and poor working conditions. 

As a business, we want to ensure a safe, reliable and affordable supply of tea by mitigating these risks through a comprehensive and collaborative approach. 

Our commitment

We’re committed to playing our part in building a more sustainable and resilient food system and have a long history of continuously working to improve our approaches to do so. Whether it’s the free-range eggs that are cracked into breakfasts across the nation, the fresh milk stirred through our porridge or the pot of tea we brew for that catch up with friends, our customers can be assured that we have worked hard to address the changing environmental and ethical impacts of the food we sell. Our approach to sustainable sourcing sits within our sustainability strategy Plan for Better.

We are committed to help shape a resilient and sustainable future for the global tea community. We want to ensure that tea farmers and workers have security, are paid a fair price and are supported to build more sustainable and resilient supply chains. We will collaborate with other retailers, tea brands, producers, and key industry players to drive systemic change across the sector. 

100% of by Sainsbury’s black tea is Fairtrade

All of our by Sainsbury’s black tea is Fairtrade, meaning that we are projected to become the largest retailer of Fairtrade tea in the UK. This builds on over 20 years of partnership with Fairtrade and underscores our commitment to sourcing our customers’ favourite products while working with tea farmers and workers to improve their livelihoods and build more sustainable and resilient supply chains.

"By converting all of our by Sainsbury’s black tea to Fairtrade, our customers can be confident that they are contributing to minimum prices for producers and better living conditions for farmers, while also helping to promote sustainable farming practices that protect the environment for future generations. We’re committed to playing our part in building a more sustainable and resilient food system, and are excited to continue building on over 20 years of partnership with Fairtrade to achieve this."

Ruth Cranston

Director of Sustainability, Sainsbury’s

Our sourcing approach 

Our approach to sourcing is underpinned by our Human Rights Policy and our Ethical Sourcing Policy. We are committed to sourcing ethically and responsibly, buying tea through responsible purchasing practices, and building the capacity of ourselves and others to continually learn and address evolving supply chain risks. We endeavour to establish long-term and productive relationships with our suppliers and producers, and work in collaboration and partnership.

Industry collaboration 

The complex and systemic challenges in the tea sector must be tackled in collaboration with others to create a more resilient and ethical tea supply chain. We have invested in collaborative relationships and approaches across the tea industry to support us to achieve systemic change. 

ETP is the global organisation working to improve the lives and livelihoods of those working in tea. In 2024, Sainsbury’s joined ETP as an ETP Affiliate, reinforcing our commitment to responsible business practices and ethical sourcing. 

“Welcoming Sainsbury’s into ETP is a significant milestone in our journey to create a thriving, socially just, and environmentally sustainable tea sector.”

Tom Franks

ETP Chair of the Board of Directors

Collaboration in Kenya

The tea sector is a crucial element of Kenya’s economy, and several high-profile cases have drawn attention to the human rights risks within the industry in recent years. These risks are often compounded by environmental risks, such as reduced yield from changing weather patterns. It is a sector undergoing rapid and widespread change following the implementation of the Tea Act 2020.

In Kenya, erratic weather and increasing temperatures put pressure on farmers. Additionally, low wages are common in the tea sector, and women workers in some parts of the industry have experienced gender-based violence and harassment. However, sourcing tea in a way that supports the people who grow it, whilst also protecting our planet, is not always easy. It’s a challenge the industry has been working together to tackle for decades and is why unfortunately much of the tea we enjoy in the UK does not meet the highest ethical and sustainability standards. For systemic change, it is critical that we collaborate with the industry to address root causes of risks within Kenyan tea. We are collaborating across a number of programmes to address these salient risks.

  • Empowering Tea Communities in Kenya

    Sainsbury’s is proud to be collaborating with ActionAid, ETP, Taylors of Harrogate, Lavazza Professional and the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to support tea farming communities in Kenya. Through the Empowering Tea Communities in Kenya programme, smallholder farmers and tea pluckers are empowered to understand and claim their rights to a positive working environment, freedom from violence and access to services. Read more about the programme & its achievements here.

  • ETI’s Gender Action in Agriculture (GAIA) programme

    Sexual and gender-based violence and harassment (SGBVH) is a persistent issue within commercial agricultural supply chains, but it remains underreported and under addressed. By participating in the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI)’s Gender Action in Agriculture (GAIA) programme, Sainsbury’s is contributing towards a system-wide approach to addressing the factors that put workers at risk in agricultural supply chains, including a focus on Kenyan tea. The programme aims to develop a set of principles based on gender responsive human rights due diligence (GRHRDD) to address SGBVH risks that is based on meaningful stakeholder engagement. Read more about the programme here.

  • Investigation and remediation of exploitation in Kenya

    To respond to risks in Kenyan tea, Sainsbury’s collaborates with ETI and other buyers of Kenyan tea to investigate any allegations and where appropriate, support the implementation of human rights action plans. In April 2024, Sainsbury’s and other buyers sponsored a roundtable event in Kenya that sought to unite key stakeholders in the tea sector to address the systemic issue of sexual and gender-based violence in the Kenyan tea sector, fostering dialogue and leveraging existing efforts and good practice. We continue to work with ETI and the wider industry on progress within Kenyan tea. Read more about Sainsbury’s collaboration with ETI and other buyers here.

Collaboration in Assam 

Assam in North India is a unique context to source tea from and we recognise the challenges faced when purchasing tea from the region. We are working closely with Fairtrade, our trusted tea supplier, and other buyers of this tea to support the development of a new Fairtrade initiative in Assam, called the Assam Approach. This is a robust Fairtrade approach tailored specifically to the challenges facing gardens in the region. It includes supporting tea workers and gardens on a journey of continuous improvement, increased transparency, working in partnership and effective monitoring of improvements.

The approach works with people in Assam to address systemic challenges and benefit workers, see lasting improvements and ensuring security of supply for this distinctive tea. For more information, please visit fairtrade.org.uk/tea.

Traceability and transparency 

We work with tea producers from all over the world to create our products. We’re proud to source our teas from producers and suppliers who share our values and focus on quality and sustainability. We are committed to building long term relationships with our suppliers and producers and to purchasing our teas responsibly, enabling us to build a more resilient supply chain.

1 https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-01/2024-global-market-report-tea.pdf  

Images 
- Ms Krisana Kumari, tea plucker and Ms Sunitha Kumari, supervisor of a group of tea pluckers and member of the Fairtrade Premium Committee at The United Nilgiri Tea Estates Company, South India. Credit: Nologo / Fairtrade Foundation 
- Ms Vijaya Kumari, tea plucker at Matheson tea estate, South India. Credit: Nologo / Fairtrade Foundation 
- Ms Sunitha Kumari, supervisor of a group of tea pluckers and member of the Fairtrade Premium Committee at The United Nilgiri - Tea Estates Company, South India. Credit: Nologo / Fairtrade Foundation