Why Direct Trade or Farmer-Direct Tea is the Way to Go

Tea is readily available and such a normal part of our daily routines that it’s easy to take for granted where it comes from. Have you ever wondered whether the tea you drink is from direct trade (and by that, we mean tea direct from the producer)?

Find out three reasons why the best place to get your natural tea is straight from the source: tea farmers! Plus, see how JusTea is supporting sustainable tea farming in Kenya. 

The Standard Tea Process and Supply

The typical tea manufacturing process involves several steps, unequal division of profits, and high use of energy. Conventional tea farming in Kenya, for example, involves mass production and corporate importers who can buy at prices that are too low to provide a living wage to the people working in the tea farms and tea manufacturing factories. 

Multiple steps in the supply chain mean more energy usage, less accountability, and fewer worker protections. This exploitative system is rooted in a history of colonialism and it means a cup of conventional supermarket tea likely comes from a place where those who produced it do not earn a fair wage.

Direct trade, on the other hand, removes all the middlemen (and women) standing between your cup of handpicked tea and the tea farm. This makes the tea farming and tea manufacturing process more transparent and traceable…plus it has some great benefits for tea farmers, the environment, and you!

When You Get Tea Direct from the Farm…

Fair trade tea is great, but there’s a way to take your commitment to sustainable tea a step further so that you can support tea farmers while getting the best natural tea possible. When you choose to buy your tea direct from the supply, everyone wins. Here’s why…

You Help the Tea Farmers and Their Families

When you buy tea direct from the producer, your money goes directly to the tea farmers. Earning a fair wage makes tea farming a viable way for them to earn a living to support their families. That could mean being able to afford to send their children to school, pay for health expenses, and more. A sustainable tea supply for you, and sustainable income for them – what’s not to love about that?!

You Care for the Environment

Conventional tea farming pollutes soil and water with pesticides and reduces biodiversity by clearing large areas of land for a single species of the tea plant. But tea manufacturing doesn’t have to be so damaging. 

Direct trade organic tea provides a good income to tea farmers, making sustainable tea practices easier to maintain. There is a lower environmental footprint because there are fewer steps in the supply chain overall, requiring less energy and generating fewer emissions. In other words, direct trade tea is sustainable tea.

You Get Quality Tea

Getting tea direct from the supply means a transparent relationship with tea farmers and tea farming that emphasizes quality over quantity. Forget about mass-produced tea, which is often ground up and hidden in bags to mask the poor quality. When you buy tea direct from the producer, like that which comes from the Kenya tea farms that supply JusTea, you can be confident that each leaf is handpicked with care and attention to make sure you get the best natural tea possible.

That’s Why JusTea is Committed to Farmer-Direct Tea

JusTea puts the direct trade of tea into practice in the Kenya tea farms where our natural tea is grown. Our sustainable teas are grown on the first small-scale organic certified tea farms in Kenya! The farmer-direct tea we produce is all thanks to our Kenyan tea farm dream team.

Meet the Tea Farmer Heroes Behind the One and Only Farmer-to-Cup Tea in Kenya

It takes a talented team to keep the most unique of Kenya tea farms operating so that you can enjoy the best handpicked teas. Our Kenyan founder was Mzee Jacob Katah, who had the vision to create a more just supply chain for small-scale tea farmers in Kenya. Now our cottage factory manager Boaz Katah leads the team that is carrying out this vision to create new job opportunities and share Kenyan Tea with the world…including our unique purple tea!

If you’d like to enjoy delicious, sustainable tea while supporting direct trade tea farming in Kenya, learn more about our tea farmers and order tea at JusTea.