Tea
Unilever is the world's largest supplier of black leaf tea, with annual sales of around 300,000 tonnes. We own tea estates in East Africa and additional quantities are purchased on world markets and from third party growers.
We published sustainable tea production guidelines in English and Kiswahili for use on our own tea plantations and on the farms of our suppliers. Lipton and PG, our best known brands have committed to source the tea for all its tea bags from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM farms by 2015.
Lipton also recently concluded a three-year Farmer Field School project in partnership with the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) which resulted in more sustainable, more profitable farming practices and also prepared farmers to begin the process of Rainforest Alliance certification.
Find out more about Rainforest Alliance and Lipton.
The Unilever tea farm in Kenya
We ensure that 10% of our land is set aside for conservation, and at Kericho an area of indigenous forest has been set aside as a monkey sanctuary. In collaboration with local communities and institutions we have planted more than 600,000 indigenous trees.
We are helping to reduce our ecological footprint by meeting 97% of our energy needs from renewable sources. We have four hydroelectric power stations and grow 2,000ha of eucalyptus for burning in our boilers. We are working in partnership with Philips to trial their new fuel-efficient wood stove for use by workers at our plantations. It uses 70% less wood than cooking over an open fire.
Our employees benefit from comprehensive medical care programmes, and we work with our suppliers and local communities to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.
The Unilever tea farm in Tanzania
Unilever Tea Tanzania (UTT) employs about 6,000 people and produces 10,000 tonnes of dry tea leaves each year. UTT's farms are managed sustainably, and are used for research into water use optimization, nutrient management and soil health. Our tea farm at Mufindi is located in the Eastern Arc mountains biodiversity hotspot, which is home to around 2,000 plant species and many species of amphibians and reptiles that are found nowhere else on Earth.
Our Biodiversity Action Plan has been in place since 2003 to secure the long term existence of habitats and species, as well as the sustainability of tea production. We also work to raise awareness among employees and local communities about the importance of minimizing disturbance to the forest. We encourage the use of energy efficient cooking stoves and alternative sources of energy.
Our employees benefit from comprehensive medical care programmes, and we work with our suppliers and local communities to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS.