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Woman picking tea leaves at a tea plantation. (Getty Images\/stellalevi) <\/p>\n Woman picking tea leaves at a tea plantation. (Getty Images\/stellalevi) <\/p>\n
Unilever\u2019s announcement that their teas are \u201cslave-free\u201d follows a long campaign to make the world\u2019s largest tea supply chain transparent. Last year, Unilever and Nestl\u00e9 became the first two food companies to declare their sources of palm oil slave-free. This was a result of conversations around sustainability in palm oil production and to control deforestation. <\/p>\n
is a not-for-profit body that works for fair trade and has campaigned for tea traceability for some time now. In 2018, they launched \u201cWho picked my tea?\u201d a campaign calling the six major UK tea brands \u2013 Unilever, Typhoo, Twinings, Yorkshire Tea, Tata (Tetley) and Clipper Teas \u2013 to publish the list of estates in Assam (India) that they source tea. <\/p>\n
Assam, the largest tea producing region in India suffers in reputation for poor labor policies documented by media and academics in a 2018 by Sheffield University. The investigation revealed that some Indian tea plantations stamped \u201cslavery-free\u201d were abusing and underpaying their workers. Labor conditions at several of the 22 gardens in Assam and Kerala had been certified as acceptable by Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and Trustea. Several were also members of the Ethical Tea Partnership a not-for-profit membership organization of tea producers and tea companies to improve the sustainability of the tea industry.<\/p>\n
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Twinings was the first brand to come forward with a list of its suppliers offering the assurance that all its suppliers were third-party certified. They were followed by Bettys & Taylors Group, owners of Yorkshire Tea, the first \u201cbig brand\u201d to publish their supplier list. The others followed suit. <\/p>\n
Unilever has since extended this degree of traceability beyond Assam. In September this year, the conglomerate published its global supplier list for tea, a list that spans 21 countries including China, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Unilever\u2019s executive vice president for beverages, Mick Van Ettinger, was quoted as saying, \u201cWith transparency comes transformation.\u201d <\/p>\n
The UN estimates around 25 million people to be \u201ctrapped in forced labor\u201d. The practice extends across manufacturing industries. The UN has set a by 2030. The onus is on consumers to demand where the products they buy originate, by insisting producers demonstrated their suppliers ensure acceptable working conditions. <\/p>\n
With place of origin and source playing a big part in brand marketing, consumers increasingly demand this transparency. Unilever\u2019s move towards slave-free tea is one that should find adoption by other brands. It is indeed a step forward for brands and offers a sound talking point. But what does it really mean for the worker on the ground, who may not be enjoying their due rights? How can they benefit from this open access to knowledge and information? <\/p>\n
Traidcraft\u2019s policy adviser, Tom Wills, was quoted as saying, \u201cUnilever\u2019s decision to publish its global supplier list gives the women who pick the tea we drink more power to push for better pay and conditions, wherever they work. Making the supplier list public means tea workers can complain directly to a global brand when standards fall short of what is being advertised to western consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Certification bodies such as Rainforest Alliance\/UTZ address the working and living conditions of tea garden workers, ensuring that human rights and obligations to workers are protected. In India, Unilever was part of the group that introduced Trustea, a tea quality certification customized for India that includes workers\u2019 rights and working environment among its zero-tolerance criteria. <\/p>\n
Globally manufacturers are stepping up towards eradicating slave-workers. In 2015, The Thomson Reuters Foundation launched the award to acknowledge companies seeking to eradicate slave conditions and clean up their own supply chains. Modern slavery is defined as people \u201ccoerced into working through force or fraud at no pay beyond subsistence. All types of slavery \u2013 including sex trafficking, debt bondage, domestic servitude, and forced labor \u2013 rely on violence or the threat of violence.\u201d Previous winners include Unilever and Apple, Intel, and Adidas.<\/p>\n
Reuters observed that as large businesses across the western world take the lead to clean up their sources of raw material, they are bringing a much-needed shift in the fight against modern slavery. What is needed now is to ensure that the workers on the gardens are made aware of their rights, and empowered to resist and fight abuse, and have access to support for their justice. <\/p>\n
Sources: , , , , <\/p>\n
Woman picking tea leaves at a tea plantation. (Getty Images\/stellalevi) Unilever\u2019s announcement that their teas are \u201cslave-free\u201d follows a long campaign to make the world\u2019s largest tea supply chain transparent. Last year, Unilever and Nestl\u00e9 became the first two food companies to declare their sources of palm oil slave-free. This was a result of conversations<\/p>\n