With that in mind it is easy to see why leading fair trade organisation Traidcraft decided to expand and refresh their tea offering, helping farmers and producers across the developing world and keeping UK tea drinkers happy at the same time.
Traidcraft's expanded Fairtrade range now includes a new decaffeinated tea as well as an improved African gold tea in special, vacuum sealed packaging to keep the freshness locked in.
Traidcraft pioneered the UK's first fairly traded tea in the early 1980s. Now, 30 years on, the company not only sells 27 million tea bags a year but is still playing an active role in the fight against poverty in the tea industry. For this reason it has deliberately chosen to work with marginalised tea farmers in Malawi, India, Rwanda and Tanzania for its new look, quality tea range.
All Traidcraft teas are Fairtrade which is the only system that guarantees tea producers a minimum price for their tea and pays an extra premium for farmers and workers to invest in their communities.
Wendelin Msilu is a tea worker at Kibena in Tanzania. "Since joining Kibena I have managed to get married and have got a house for my family. I have bought a bicycle. I have two children and I am planning to send them to high school."
As well as the new decaffeinated tea, Traidcraft will be launching a green tea in Spring 2010. Other products in the range include everyday teas from Africa and India - both one cup and two cup tea bags - alongside English Breakfast, Earl Grey and Tanzanian leaf tea bags. The new packs tell the story about Traidcraft's long term involvement in the tea sector and have been specifically designed to work on supermarket shelves, where Traidcraft hopes to obtain listings.
