The Importance of Ethically Sourced Tea
Our society has grown increasingly health conscious over the past decade. An increased awareness of synthetic chemicals that deteriorate the quality of our food has changed our consumer behavior, forcing companies in many cases to adapt to our demands for foods that are wholesome, all-natural, and organic.
Along with this development in consumer conscious has been the extension of our awareness into other aspects of our food. Not only are we demanding healthier, unprocessed foods, but we also want to know for example whether our growers, farmers, suppliers, and merchants are taking steps to be environmentally friendly by promoting sustainable practices.
This is no different in the case of sourcing tea. There are many merchants who simply act as middle men, sourcing their teas from other individuals or companies without ever seeing exactly where this tea is from. In worst case scenarios, some of these companies are more than two places removed from their teas, sourcing it from a distributor who sources it from a company who sources it from…somewhere.
At MeiMei Fine Teas, we believe in working directly with our tea producers from the farmers to the roasters. This helps us not only control the quality of our product, but it provides us the insight to make responsible sourcing decisions. Because protecting the environment and ensuring the production of quality tea for many years to come is important to us, we will only work with those farmers who use sustainable agriculture farming techniques.
As health- and environmentally-conscious consumers, you deserve better and you should know from where your tea comes. To this end, there’s another aspect of consumer conscious that is growing that is worth discussing, and this is ethically sourcing our foods. This isn’t just some buzz word for a new millennium, but it is a very important shift in our purchasing practices that can make a global impact. Ethically sourced foods come from places where laborers are treated well and paid fairly.
As a purveyor of fine tea, we recognize our commitments to the environment, to the farmers, and to the consumers. This is why we directly source our teas, going straight to the source to make sure that farming practices from tea growing and tea harvesting to tea processing and tea roasting are ethical, ecological, and organic. We will never support unfair or opaque labor practices. We work directly with the most competent, traditional, and caring tea farmers and tea masters because we believe that this is about more than just providing you with an amazing cup of tea.
We want your tea to be amazing for all of the right reasons, beyond just good taste.