Ridgways

How ethical and sustainable is Ridgways? 

Ridgways is a Tea brand that appears in the Ethical Tea Ratings Table of The Good Shopping Guide. Ridgways has not yet reached our ethical standard, but we hope that the brand will make the necessary changes in the future to operate as a more ethical organisation. Ridgways might boost trust among its consumers by applying for Ethical Accreditation, which would entail a more thorough review and suggestions for ethical progress.

More information on the relevance of organic Tea in the company may be found at The Good Shopping Guide to Ethical Tea. Then, in our Ethical Tea Ratings Table, compare it to other brands.

What does Ridgways do?

Ridgways was founded in 1836 by Tomas Ridgway who opened his first store in London. The company was highly regarded for its tea. In 1886 Thomas Ridgway was requested to produce tea for Queen Victoria’s own personal use and later became the tea merchant to King George VI. Ridgways is owned by parent companies Typhoo Tea Ltd/Zetland Capital Partners LLP.

For which criteria does Ridgways perform poorly? 

Despite the progress that has been made, there are still areas that the brand could improve in. Ridgways itself does not have a sustainability page and its parent company Typhoo Tea only has
a short page with no targets and insufficient detail for a company of this size. Ridgways has no criticisms against it for GMO usage in products, but also no statement detailing this so the brand receives a middle rating. It also receives a middle rating for Fairtrade, as it only has some Fairtrade teas.

Past Criticisms of Ridgways’ ethical record

Ridgways came under fire in 2021 after women working on plantations in Malawi filed claims against their employer, Lujeri, and its parent company which Ridgways uses as a supplier. These women claimed against failure to protect women against sexual assault, harassment and discrimination by male workers. Read more on this story here (please be aware that this article contains details about sexual assault).

In what areas does Ridgways score well for its ethics?

Ridgways scores well for its use of Organic products, as it sells some Soil Association-certified organic tea products. The brand also has no links to any Animal Welfare concerns, Political
Donations, Armaments or Nuclear issues.

How can Ridgways improve its ethical rating?

The Good Shopping Guide divides a brand’s Ethical Rating into three categories: the Environment, People, and Animals. Ridgways could apply for Ethical Accreditation for more detailed
ideas on how to improve. Ridgways could increase its ranking and reach our minimum ethical benchmark by improving its environmental and sustainability report to include more detailed targets to work towards, as well as providing a GMO usage report in the future.

Why not look into The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation if you work for or with a Tea company that places ethics at its core? This certification of sustainability and ethics has benefited Tea manufacturers including Wunder Workshop. Contact us to begin the process, or complete our short form to get your initial ethical and sustainability evaluation started.