Sourcing & Sustainability

Sourcing

Our teas are sourced from all over the world, primarily from China, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Africa, and Taiwan.

Ethical Statement

We buy and source our teas from our specially selected partners. All our teas come from sources which ensure fair treatment of their staff through strict observance of human rights to a safe and sociable working environment. Although our teas are not certified Fair Trade we only work with partners which adhere to our own ethical expectations.

Organic

It's important to us to provide the best quality tea available and sometimes an organic version is not always available. We do have some teas which are available as organic and these are identified with organic in their name. We are registered, audited and certified by the Soil Association in the UK.

1% for the Planet

Packaging

The cardboard packaging which we use for our tubes is FSC approved and is easily recycled. 

The inner wrap used to keep the tea fresh is made from a compostable material called Natureflex. It may look like plastic cello wrap but it can be placed into your food waste bin and composted. It can also be home composted in your compost heap.

Our bulk loose leaf tea is packed in boxes of typically 300g. The boxes consist of 3 x 100g Natureflex bags, but this weight can vary depending on the type of tea. The boxes are recyclable and the bags can be disposed of in your home compost.

Our larger 500 gram bags posed a challenge as common stand-up pouches have non-recyclable plastic liners and will end up in landfill, even those with paper kraft exteriors. For these bags, we have opted for a paper composite with a compostable Natureflex liner. Unlike common options, this entire package can be commercially composted with food waste. Just remember to peel off the front label as this is for recycling.

We reuse our boxes whenever possible when sending out orders so if your package arrives in a box that looks used then it probably has been. Reusing is the best form of recycling.

I've written a blog post about our stance on plastic and tea so please click here to read more.

Tea Pyramid Bags

Our pyramid bags are made using a bio-degradable corn starch. Although bio-degradable these are not suitable for garden composting but can be composted in a commercial composting facility. Putting the tea bags into your collected food waste will ensure that this is achieved.