Fair Trade, Fair Teas
We currently offer nine teas that are Fair Trade Certified™ by TransFair USA. Several more Traditional Medicinals® products will become Fair Trade Certified in the future.
Organic Chamomile
Organic Chamomile with Lavender
Organic Spearmint
Organic Nighty Night®
Organic Easy Now®
Organic Green Tea with Ginger
Organic Chai
Organic Golden Green Tea®
Organic Rooibos with Honeybush
Royal Ottoman Farms - Egypt
The Fair Trade Certified chamomile in our Organic Chamomile and Organic Chamomile with Lavender is sourced from two producer groups in Egypt. One source is the Royal Ottoman farms, which are spread over 4,000 acres in the regions of Fayoum, Menya, New valley, Oases, Beni sweif, Asuit, Nubaria and Aswan.
Sekem - Egypt
Organic Spearmint contains Fair Trade Certified spearmint from farms in Egypt. One of our sources is the Sekem Initiative, a biodynamic and organic farm that was founded in 1977 northeast of Cairo.
Organic Nighty Night® and Organic Easy Now® contain Fair Trade Certified organic chamomile and organic spearmint leaf from either Royal Ottoman farms or Sekem in Egypt.
Ambootia Estate - India
The Fair Trade Certified organic green tea leaf used in our Organic Green Tea with Ginger and the organic black tea used in our Organic Chai are grown at the Ambootia Estate, a beautiful tea plantation nestled in the rugged foothills of the Himalayas in Darjeeling, India.
Wuyuan - Jiangxi, China
Organic Golden Green Tea® uses Fair Trade Certified organic green tea sourced from two organic tea farmer associations in the ancient tea-producing region of Wuyuan in the Southern Chinese Province of Jiangxi.
Wupperthal - South Africa
The Fair Trade Certified organic rooibos herb in our Organic Rooibos with Honeybush is grown by the Wupperthal co-operative of small farmers (30% women) living in the rugged Cedarberg Wilderness Area of South Africa.
We are grateful to these organizations that are working to ensure safe, respectable and sound farming and production practices around the world. They allow us to build our business on principles of sustainability and human justice.
What Is Fair Trade Certified?
What About Tea Specifically?
How Does Fair Trade Certification Work?
Learn More
What Is Fair Trade Certified?
Fair Trade Certified ensures that farmers of commodity crops (primarily tea, coffee and cocoa, but also certain herbs, spices, bananas and other types of produce) are paid living wages, work in a safe environment and produce exceptional products without any child labor. Historically, farmers of these commodity crops have been exploited, often working in dangerous conditions for far below poverty wages. Meanwhile, exporters and intermediaries have been allowed to profit off these low wages and conditions. Not so with Fair Trade Certified. Any product that carries the Fair Trade Certified label guarantees the following things:
- Fair Prices & Living Wages. Farmers and workers receive a fair price for their product and their labor. It means that farmers can support their families, and their children can go to school instead of working in the fields.
- Community Empowerment. Having reliable markets for their products and receiving living wages means that farming communities become stable. This stability allows them to develop community assistance programs such as medical care, help for college tuition, and other community-driven initiatives.
- Environmental Sustainability. Many Fair Trade Certified™ products are also certified organic. Environmentally sound practices preserve native environments by encouraging biodiversity, reducing pollutants in the environment, preserving habitat for wildlife, and helping to reduce global warming.
- Quality. Because farmers and producers receive a fair price and living wages, they can focus on creating quality products.
What About Tea Specifically?
Fair Trade Certified has specific labor and trade standards for chamomile, hibiscus, mint, rooibos and tea. According to TransFair USA, "Fair Trade is a partnership between tea pickers, tea traders, and tea drinkers. Fair Trade Certified means that:- The farm where the tea or herbs are grown meets specific standards for the wages, living situation, and working conditions of its pickers.
- For every tea purchase, a Fair Trade premium goes directly back to the tea workers themselves. A committee, elected by the workers, decides how these funds will be used to meet the community's most serious needs. Tea workers have used Fair Trade premiums to hire school teachers, build maternal health clinics, guarantee child care, develop pension funds and bring electricity to their villages, among other projects."
::Top::
How Does Fair Trade Certification Work?
The certifying organization, TransFair USA, audits and monitors the business practices of importers and manufacturers to ensure that the products purchased meet the international Fair Trade criteria. These are established by the Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO). FLO inspects producers on its Fair Trade Register to ensure that the benefits of Fair Trade are reaching the farmers. TransFair USA documents that Fair Trade Certified criteria were met and that farmers received a fair price.TransFair USA is the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade Certified products in the United States. They work with importers and manufacturers to guarantee consumers that any who carry the Fair Trade Certified label have purchased their products in accordance with the international standards of Fair Trade. They provide certification, documentation, and an audit trail. In the short time that TransFair USA has provided this service, they have helped generate an additional $100 million of additional income for farmers around the world.
::Top::
Learn More
You can learn more about Fair Trade Certified and the standards that guide it at:TransFair USA - the organization that certifies all Fair Trade Certified products in the United States.
Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) - a consortium of Fair Trade licensing initiatives in 20 countries around the world, including Europe, North America, Japan, Australie and New Zealand.
The Fair Trade Resource Network - an organization that raises consumer awareness about improving people's lives through Fair Trade alternatives.
::Top::