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

UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Economy grew 0.7 per cent in Q1 2025, fastest in a year

THE UK economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year during the first quarter of 2025, driven by a rise in home purchases ahead of a tax deadline and higher manufacturing output before the introduction of new US import tariffs.

Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 per cent in the January-to-March period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, confirming its earlier estimate. This was the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rosneft in early talks to sell India refinery stake to Reliance

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani (Photo: Getty Images)

Rosneft in early talks to sell India refinery stake to Reliance

RUSSIAN oil major PJSC Rosneft Oil Company is in early discussions with Reliance Industries to sell its 49.13 per cent stake in Nayara Energy, an Indian energy company that operates a 20-million-tonnes-per-year oil refinery and 6,750 petrol pumps, sources familiar with the matter said.

The deal, if finalised, would see Reliance overtake state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to become India’s largest oil refiner. It would also provide Reliance with a significant expansion in fuel retailing, where it currently holds a relatively small presence.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Trump shakes hands with Modi during a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Key issues in India, US trade talks

TRADE talks between India and the US have hit a roadblock over disagreements on duties for auto components, steel and farm goods, Indian government sources said to Reuters, dashing hopes of reaching an interim deal ahead of president Donald Trump's July 9 deadline to impose reciprocal tariffs.

Here are the key issues at play:

Keep ReadingShow less
Anil Agarwal

Vedanta Resources, which is based in the UK and owned by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, has been working on reducing its debt. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources signs £438 million refinancing deal

VEDANTA LTD said on Thursday that its parent company, Vedanta Resources, has signed a loan facility agreement worth up to £438 million with international banks to refinance existing debt.

The refinancing move, where old loans are replaced by new ones, often at better terms like lower interest rates, has led ratings agencies such as S&P Global Ratings and Moody's to upgrade their outlook on the company this year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump-Getty

Trump said that while deals are being made with some countries, others may face tariffs.

Getty Images

Trump says major trade deal with India may be finalised soon

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Friday said a "very big" trade deal could be finalised with India, suggesting significant movement in the ongoing negotiations between the two countries.

“We are having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe with India. Very big one. Where we're going to open up India," Trump said at the “Big Beautiful Bill” event at the White House.

Keep ReadingShow less