Why does Tea need to be sustainable?
OrientalTeaBox: Our Sustainable Tea Feels Good, Tastes even Better
Do you know that sustainable tea is the most delicious tea on the planet? Before that make your head spin know that here at OrientalTeaBox, we will not just show you what it means but also, more importantly, give you one such cuppa — something to wake you up energized every single day. Or every time you need a boost.
The million-dollar question that could be racing in your mind is what in the world is sustainable tea?
Sustainable tea is a tea that brings no harm to the planet. It’s grown devoid of pesticides and harmful chemicals that pollute the environment. Plus, there is a fair relationship with every farmer who helped grow and harvest the Camella Sinensis leaves for distribution.
The tea industry is a huge industry. From USD 13.31 billion in 2019, it has grown to USD 14.02 billion worldwide, and still growing at 5.5% CAGR up to the year 2025. So, it’s really not hard for corrupt business practices to sip into the ranks and spoil the taste of tea — not to mention the world we live in.
If that has left you wondering how sustainability affects your good morning tea, you’re in luck. Learn in detail the role sustainability plays in making tea best-tasting and how we at OrientalTeaBox, with guidance from the United Nations itself, make such a tea happen to give you a needed boost every single time. Read on.
Why does Tea need to be sustainable?
Right from the onset, know that not all tea is created equal. One aspect where tea farming can be distinct from one farm to the other is how it affects the environment and the people who work hard to grow the evergreen shrub.
Imagine yourself taking a sip from your fave tea in the morning. Then, you find a review online that says the tea brand is actually contributing to the health of the planet. Wouldn’t your tea taste even better?
But what if the tea in your hand has been reported as a product of farm malpractices — and that it’s actually harming the environment, would you still want to take another sip? You may, but you might feel bad about it, right? Especially if you know the farmers who grew the Camella Sinensis plants aren’t even given credit.
Below are ways tea farming and production have been spoiled by a shortsighted vision: unscrupulous business practices that focus mainly on profits and not on sustaining a more livable planet. Nnot to mention a fair relationship with the growers and everyone who caters to the product.
Using pesticides and harmful chemicals
It’s true pesticides boost the growth behavior of crops. But it’s a short-term achievement that has long-term consequences. For one, pesticides sabotage the planet’s soil and cause serious soil pollution.
Pesticides for a tea plantation can also weed out invasive plants. In the long run, however, these chemicals run off with the soil and cause water pollution in bodies of water near the application site (e.g., streams, wells, ponds).
In the end, it sabotages the food chain. Such contaminated water negatively affects crops and livestock feeding humanity with less-quality — if not toxic food.
Using heavy types of machinery for harvest
Tea farms that use heavy machinery for harvest may think they’re doing themselves a favor, cutting harvest time by half and ensuring more products reach the market on time. Then again, it’s a short-term goal with long-term consequences for the planet.
Studies show heavy agricultural machinery brings about great damage to the soil due to compaction. By increasing the soil’s density, the air volume is reduced which leads to poor crop yields and intensified pollution on the agricultural land. In short, it’s going to affect crops negatively in the long run.
Unfair relationship with farmers
Given how big the tea industry is, many businesses are bound to cut corners. Unfortunately, small-time farmers who till the land and grow the tea can bear the biggest brunt of such malpractice. In this sense, an erroneous system drives poverty instead of alleviating it.
The number of people working in tea production totals about 13 million people worldwide; 9 million of these are smallholder farmers. What’s more, about 8 million of the 9 million are located in impoverished countries in Asia and Africa. It’s important, therefore, that these workers find a system where they are treated fairly.
How OrientalTeaBox Makes Sustainable Tea Happen
OrientalTeaBox cares. And it all starts with our tea. We ensure that our tea is not only planet-centric but also it observes fair trade towards every farmer we do business with.
First and foremost, we are one with the comprehensive sustainability mission stipulated by the 17 Goals of the United Nations. A product of decades of study and collaboration by various countries all over the planet, this guide shows us the way to fight poverty and ensure the land we live in and the waters we make the most of are livable for centuries to come.
Learn the concrete things we do to make sustainable tea happen:
We don’t use pesticides and herbicides
You may not believe it but we do away with pesticides, herbicides, and all forms of harmful chemicals in growing our tea. This is primarily embodied in our top-seller tea from Formosan Farms.
Thanks to the outstanding social entrepreneurship drive of Dr. Yvonne Han, Formosan Farms founder, we are able to produce top-notch tea products to wake you to a great morning each time without having to resort to chemicals.
This all-natural approach is possible via the vast academic expertise of Dr. Han, now more commonly called Dr. Tea. This way, Formosan Farms, a collection of many smallholder farms united under one banner, preserve a centuries-old family heritage by providing quality tea without succumbing to the pressures of industrialization.
We hand-pick our tea
Another area where our tea stands out is we choose to handpick our tea. It’s an enormous task given the vast mountainous territory we cover. But it’s one sustainable choice that not only preserves the best taste in the tea leaves but also takes care of the soil and the environment.
Indeed, hand-picked tea benefits everybody. More importantly, for you, it translates to a more mouthwatering journey for your palate. And it’s loose-leaf rarely found these days as most of the tea you find in the market comes from tea leaves that are harvested not by human hands but by cold, unfeeling machines.
Doing so means you enjoy the best luxury teas on the planet. Our small-batch luxury teas are uniquely positioned to deliver a luxury taste so distinguished that it’s unrivaled originality straight from our farms and farmers. All with heritage methods handed for centuries from one generation to the next.
We market single-origin tea
Single-origin is a sustainable concept that ensures farmers who grew tea get the credit they deserve. Essentially, it means labeling a product so the buyer knows where it comes from. So single-origin means a tea buff like you would know who grew the nootropic drink that you cherish when you need a lift.
Our tea is single origin and can therefore be traced directly back to our farms. As such, this gives consumers a way to directly support our farmers. In short, single-origin tea allows you to give credit where credit is due.
Take note that many tea products on the market today do not acknowledge the source farm. It’s unfair for the farmers and by extension unfair for everyone who grows tea.
We market fairtrade tea
Another key concept that helps us support the smallholder farmers who put their blood, sweat, and tears into growing tea is fairtrade tea. We make sure that every tea we market observes fair trade practices.
So, what is fair trade tea?
Simply put, every smallholder farmer will face huge challenges in marketing their product. Central to this is the uphill climb they face in ensuring they get paid a good price. This is where fairtrade tea comes in. It means that what you’re drinking has been certified by Fairtrade International, a global organization that encourages products to be paid at a fair price. Thus, fairtrade tea ensures that even smallholder farmers get compensated for their harvest at a price compatible with what’s paid to big-time tea producers. And not only that. Fairtrade International promotes sustainable farming to keep Mother Nature as pristine as possible while being used commercially.
We insist on quality tea
Surely, you’d be amazed at what Formosan Farms has accomplished. For starters, we are talking about tea that is processed using untold handcrafting secrets passed from one generation to the next. In short, this is a time-tested business experience in that you only sip tea that brings out the best in seasonality, specialty, originality, and spirit of select mountain ranges of Taiwan.
The numbers say it all. All our Formosan farms are tended to by one tea master, an expert who has accumulated the skills coming from decades of work and experience. Such expertise is crucial right from the onset. Our tea masters leave no stone unturned when it comes to what leaves are used in tea production.
- In fact, our tea masters are able to select the finest tea leaves at a rate of 1,300 leaves per hour.
- Plus, he keeps in mind that 1-bud-2 leaf is the gold standard in tea production.
It’s very educational, indeed. Now, you know why sustainable tea is the most delicious tea of them all.
Conclusion
Truth be told, sustainable tea always tastes better than unsustainable one. That is exactly why we at Oriental TeaBox pursue tea with all our might to ensure you get the tea that you so deserve. Our tea feels good and tastes even better because it has the planet and everyone in mind.
Simply put, we put a premium on top-notch customer experience. It does not just feel good but also it tastes even better. That’s our sustainable tea right from Day 1.