Rare Tea Co.

How ethical and sustainable is Rare Tea Company?

Rare Tea Company is a tea brand that The Good Shopping Guide has researched extensively for its business ethics and sustainability policies. From our research, we have found that Rare Tea Company does not reach our Ethical Benchmark, and therefore does not currently qualify to be considered a good ethical tea brand. However, if Rare Tea Company was to make some changes to its business ethics and sustainability policies, the Rare Tea Company could see its score improve, and could even qualify for consideration for Ethical Accreditation by The Good Shopping Guide.

For more information about the ethical issues that the Tea sector must tackle, read our article on Ethical Tea.

About Rare Tea Company

The independent Rare Tea Company has its main office in London.

Henrietta Lovell established the business in 2004 with the goal of obtaining and distributing loose leaf tea, straight from farmers and their tea estates.

Rare Tea Company currently work with many chefs, restaurants, pubs, and hotels around the world, from Noma to Claridge’s.

How does Rare Tea Company score well for its ethics?

Rare Tea Company has supplied the public with a satisfactory Environmental Report. For an independent business, this tea brand publishes a good amount of information on its sustainability initiatives. Rare Tea Company has also never been found to be connected to, to have invested in or financially benefitted from any involvement in the Nuclear industries, and so this has resulted in a good score for our Nuclear research category. Encouragingly, the same can be said of our research into Rare Tea Company’s Animal Welfare policies and history, Armaments and Political Donations. For more information about how we research and score brands, see our How We Rate methodology page.

Where could Rare Tea Company improve its ethics?

Currently, Rare Tea Company does not sell any certified-organic products or use an independent, non-biased authority, such as the Fairtrade scheme, to verify its ethical claims and that it pays farmers and producers fairly. There is also currently no statement published on the brand’s stance on Genetic Modification, which would put consumers and investors at ease. If Rare Tea Company could follow up on these ethical guidelines, then it would see its GSG Score improve, and could be considered for Ethical Accreditation by The Good Shopping Guide.

Ethical Accreditation: Corporate Social Responsibility for tea brands

If you work for or with a tea company that values ethics above all else, why not learn more about The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation? Tea manufacturers, such as Wunder Workshop, have benefited from this accreditation of sustainability and ethics. Contact us to start the process, or fill out our brief form to start your initial assessment of ethics and sustainability.