Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

UK's Tetley Reveals Tea Suppliers In Push For Slave-free Sourcing

Tetley, the world's second biggest tea company, has released a list of its suppliers, including those in India, to boost transparency in its supply chain, the British firm's owner Tata Global Beverages said on Friday (2).

India's tea industry, the second largest in the world, employs 3.5 million workers, many of whom are exploited on plantations and live in poverty, research has shown.


Tetley sources most of its tea from India, with 141 suppliers of a total 227 named in the list published last week.

Major brands are facing mounting regulatory and consumer pressure to ensure their products are free of slavery and other abusive practices.

"The information has been put up in response to changing consumer expectations in the UK, regarding transparency in the supply chain," a spokesperson for Tata Global Beverages told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an emailed statement.

The company declined to say whether its Indian subsidiaries would also follow this practice and publish suppliers' lists.

Tetley became the third major British tea company after Yorkshire Tea owner Bettys and Taylors Group and Twinings to publish a full list of suppliers.

Some Indian plantations certified as slavery-free are nonetheless abusing and underpaying their workers, according to research by Britain's Sheffield University.

Many women working on plantations in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, where major brands source much of their tea, earn a "pitiful" $2 a day and live in "appalling" conditions, found a report from British charity Traidcraft Exchange in May.

Estate owners often cite the benefits they are legally required to provide, which include housing, toilets, health facilities and subsidised food, to justify low wages.

But workers complain repeated requests for repairs and better food supplies - often insufficient, stale or contaminated - are largely ignored, according to the report.

Tata Global Beverages says it works to ensure all its suppliers meet ethical standards and follows a strict code of conduct to "ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our supply chains".

The Kolkata-based company aims to launch a new supplier code of conduct next year.

Campaigners said Tetley's move would help improve conditions but cautioned it would not be enough to ensure all tea plantation workers got a fair deal.

"(The list) must then be accompanied by meaningful dialogue with workers to properly address the risks they identify," said Joe Bardwell, a spokesman for the British-based Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC).

Reuters

More For You

Jio Platforms

Jio Platforms includes India’s largest telecom operator, Reliance Jio Infocomm, with more than 500 million users. (Photo: Reuters)

Reuters

Jio IPO planned for mid-2026, AI unit announced with Meta and Google

RELIANCE Industries plans to take its telecom and digital arm, Jio Platforms, public by mid-2026, chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Friday. The announcement sets a new timeline for the long-awaited IPO of a business analysts value at over $100 billion.

At its annual general meeting (AGM), Reliance also announced the launch of an artificial intelligence unit in partnership with Google and Meta.

Keep ReadingShow less
Asda tech overhaul

Asda sales fell 0.2 per cent in the three months to June 30, 2025 (AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

Asda boss hails tech overhaul as key to revival despite sales slump

THE chairman of Asda has admitted the supermarket chain still faces challenges after sales slipped again over the summer, but said the completion of a major IT overhaul was crucial for its recovery.

Allan Leighton told the Times that the long-delayed technology project, called Project Future, had finally been finished after years of setbacks and costs exceeding £1 billion. The work involved separating more than 2,500 systems inherited from former owner Walmart, following Asda’s 2021 takeover by TDR Capital.

Keep ReadingShow less
JLR-Getty

A logo is pictured outside a Jaguar Land Rover new car show room in Tonbridge, south east England. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

UK car exports to US rebound after trade deal

UK VEHICLE exports to the United States rose in July after a new trade deal between London and Washington reduced tariffs, industry data showed on Thursday.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), exports increased 6.8 per cent in July to nearly 10,000 units, following three consecutive months of decline.

Keep ReadingShow less
Relatives of jailed Briton appeal to UK minister in AgustaWestland row

Christian Michel

Relatives of jailed Briton appeal to UK minister in AgustaWestland row

THE family of Christian Michel, the British businessman accused of acting as a middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, has appealed to the UK government to push for his release from Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

Michel’s relatives met Foreign Office minister Catherine West in London on Tuesday (26). The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the minister listened to their concerns and updated them on ongoing steps being taken.

Keep ReadingShow less
Blackburn loses Issa empire as brothers move EG Group to US

Zuber and Mohsin Issa (Photo: LDRS)

Blackburn loses Issa empire as brothers move EG Group to US

ASIAN entrepreneurs Mohsin and Zuber Issa are moving the headquarters of their global forecourt company, EG Group, from Blackburn to the US in preparation for a major stock market listing in New York.

The firm confirmed that its main office will relocate to Charlotte, North Carolina, while a new base in Bolton, Greater Manchester, will handle its remaining UK operations, the Telegraph reported. The change brings an end to almost 25 years of the company being run from Blackburn.

Keep ReadingShow less