faq
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Answers to frequently asked questions about our partnership with Rainforest Alliance
Q: Why can't you certify everything at once?
A: Lipton is the world's number 1 tea brand, we sell more tea than anybody else. Because our tea is blended for consistency, a single bag of Lipton Yellow Label may contain more than 20 different kinds of tea from a number of plantations and countries. Given the scope of our ambition we have to take step-by-step approach.
Q: Are you thinking of having only your own estates certified?
A: We are committed to sourcing all our tea sustainably. We're starting with certification of our own estates because we think it is only fair that before asking our suppliers to get certified, we certify our own plantations. We have a long history of developing and employing sustainable methods and places like the Lipton tea Gardens in Kericho, Kenya have a distinguished record. We hope that certification for them will be relatively straightforward – enabling us to start using certified tea as soon as possible. We then plan to move on to third party estates. At present, we source a majority of the tea we use for Lipton products from third-party estates.
Q: You are starting with certification of tea going to Western European markets. What are your plans and timeframes for launching certified tea in your other markets?
A: We will start in Western Europe but will roll out to other regions as soon as enough certified tea leaves are available. All Lipton Yellow Label tea bags sold in Western Europe certified by 2010. We intend to extend certification to all Lipton tea bags sold globally by 2015.
Q: Why are you not just using Fairtrade tea?
A: We explored all the possibilities for certification of our tea supply and evaluated the programmes based on a number of criteria, including certification standards, consumer understanding, availability of volumes, etc.. We think Fairtrade is a sound and valuable certification scheme that plays an important role in furthering sustainable commodity sourcing. After careful consideration however, we decided that Rainforest Alliance’s approach was the most appropriate for us – mostly because of its comprehensive nature, looking at the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainability and its experience in converting crops that depend on larger plantations, like tea.
Rainforest Alliance's standards do cover the full range of worker protection issues including the right to organise; the right to a safe, clean working environment; the right to be paid at least the national minimum wage; dignified housing (including potable water); access to medical care for workers and their families and access to free education for children.
Lipton's own Sustainable Agriculture programme, which we have been working on since 1999, is a close match to Rainforest Alliance's approach.
Q. What will change in the taste of my cup of tea once it gets certified?
A: Nothing will change. We take great care to make sure that the same high quality and taste is delivered consistently to our consumers. We have asked our main suppliers to become certified by the Rainforest Alliance to ensure that we will be buying the same high quality tea we buy now.
Q: Are you just launching one certified niche product?
A: We are not just launching a niche product. We have been committed to sustainability for many years and believe it is a measure of our commitment that we intend to have the whole of Lipton’s tea supply certified.
Q. Is the price of my pack of Lipton going to go up because of certification?
A: No, we don’t intend to charge consumers for our commitment to sustainability.
Q: What are you doing for the small farmers?
A: We have been working for a number of years to support small producers in Kenya through our sustainable agriculture programme and projects involving small scale farmers. For example, in 2006, we entered into a partnership with the UK’s Department for International Development and the Kenya Tea Development Agency to roll out a programme to communicate our tea sustainability guidelines to 450 000 smallholder farmers in Kenya through farmer field schools. We will ask these producers to become certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Experience on other crops like coffee has shown that producers are able to get a 10-15% premium for certified goods. In addition, Rainforest Alliance certification has in many cases helped them to run their farms more efficiently.
Q: You are asking your current suppliers to become certified- if this is the case, how independent can the Rainforest Alliance really be?
A: To be clear, if tea growers do not meet the standards, they will not be certified. Rainforest Alliance is an independent international non-profit organisation working to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour. Their funding and operating processes are transparent and clear. Their standards are developed in compliance with the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards. The standards and criteria are developed with active stakeholder involvement through a public consultation process.
More info: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org
Q: What about your packaging? Why are you not using recycled paper for your packs?
A: This is not always possible. For example, European regulations do not generally permit the use of recycled board or paper where the packaging is in direct contact with foodstuffs. However, over 80% of the packaging for LYL in Western Europe is derived from renewable sources, and of this approximately 65% is already from sustainable sources. The two main independent third party bodies that have certified our main sources of sustainable packaging are PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). We are investigating how we can increase this percentage of sustainably and certified sources over time.