JING Tea sources single garden teas – teas that offer distinctive character and capture the unique
combination of the individual tea bush, terroir, and tea master’s craftmanship. “We know that every tea garden has a unique story to tell,” says Lucy Thornton, Head of Marketing, Innovation & Sustainability, JING Tea. “We believe that tea regions need to be known and loved by consumers, and well looked after by producers to thrive.”
To this end, JING promotes the tea garden name and origin on every pack of tea, as well as telling the producer stories through the ‘Meet the producers’ section on its website. As part of its selection process, the company audits all of its gardens in line with Ethical Tea Partnership standards, helping to protect the environment, improve the lives and livelihoods of smallholder farmers and tea workers, and strengthen the tea sector.
The company’s sourcing policy is focused on prioritising teas made with organic farming principles – recognising that this is vital to protect land, wildlife, producers and consumers from agrochemicals. In parallel, JING works to communicate these benefits to consumers, demonstrating why it is worth choosing teas grown organically.
To continue to help smallholder producers thrive, JING takes a ‘principles over paperwork’ approach when it comes to organic tea farming. To help ensure smallholders are farming organically, JING develops strong relationships with its producers, and batch tests every tea for pesticide and herbicide residues. In this way, it has created a ‘Made without pesticides’ assurance and clearly highlights which teas carry this assurance and which are certified organic.
The company is on track for 80% of its range to be organically grown (carrying either assurance) by the end of 2021.
“This approach enables us to deliver amazing tea discoveries while empowering smallholder tea farmers and their communities,” says Thornton. “As we move forward, we know that collective action is integral to accelerating change and building resilience in our sector. Collaboration is the only way to bring rapid, lasting change, and we are committed to working tirelessly towards a positive future for the tea sector.”
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