Tea

As part of our human rights due diligence approach we committed to conducting Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs) to better understand the impact of our business operations on human rights issues within key commodity streams. Through our annual high level supply chain risk assessment tea was identified as a high risk raw material and further analysis identified Kenya as a key source for certified tea, not only for Lidl but also as an export market into Europe.

Through our HRIA, which followed internationally recognised methodologies, we were able to access rights holders from across the Kenyan tea value chain, from smallholder farmers and tea estate workers, to supply chain representatives and key Lidl staff. This has allowed us to improve our understanding of gender, small-holder producer organisations and the structure of the tea producing economy in Kenya for the UK market. Through the publication of a full report and time-bound action plan, we will outline the steps we will take to mitigate salient human rights risks identified through this process.

Our tea suppliers are taking important steps to support women working within the tea sector, putting interventions in place to tackle discrimination within the workplace. Initiatives introduced include female management trainee programmes, leadership training and apprenticeships, gender equality training and school mentorship programmes. We engage closely with our suppliers to understand the progress they are making on their initiatives and consider opportunities to enhance or develop these further.   

SUPPORTING FAIRTRADE TEA PRODUCERS

It is estimated that over 390,000 farmers and workers produce Fairtrade tea across 11 countries. The challenges workers face vary depending on the tea growing location, however many face low wages, long working hours and lack of access to basic needs such as housing, healthcare and education.

Our commitment to sourcing Fairtrade certified tea supports smallholder producers by setting a minimum price, based on the sustainable cost of production, for the tea that we buy. This price acts as a safety net for smallholder farmers against volatile market prices. In addition to this, a Fairtrade Premium is provided directly to producer organisations for them to invest as they see fit, be it in education, healthcare facilities for their communities or training for workers.