Yorkshire Tea

How ethical and sustainable is Yorkshire Tea? 

Yorkshire Tea is a brand that appears in The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Tea Ratings Table. Yorkshire Tea has not yet met our ethical benchmark, but we hope that the brand will make the necessary changes towards operating as a more ethical company in the future.

Visit The Good Shopping Guide to Ethical Tea for additional information on the ethical issues within the Tea industry. You can also compare Yorkshire Tea to other brands on our Ethical Tea Rating Table.

What does Yorkshire Tea do?

In 1886, Charles Taylor and his two sons set up a tea and coffee company in Harrogate, Yorkshire, with the first batch of its famous Yorkshire Tea launching in 1977. In 1962 Charles Taylor’s brand was purchased by Bettys’ Taylors Group Ltd and still operates under that parent brand now.

For which criteria does Yorkshire Tea perform poorly? 

As Yorkshire Tea receives a low rating, there are several areas that the brand could improve in.

Yorkshire Tea does not offer any organic or Fairtrade tea and therefore receives a bottom rating in our Organic and Fairtrade categories.

Additionally, Yorkshire Tea receives a bottom rating for Public Record Criticism. This is because its parent company, Bettys & Taylors Group, has been criticised on multiple occasions for sourcing from suppliers linked to human rights abuses.

For instance, in 2021 Bettys & Taylors was criticised for using Lujeri as a supplier. Lujeri has come under fire after women working on plantations in Malawi filed a claim in UK courts for failure to protect the women employees from sexual assault, sexual harassment, coercion and discrimination by male workers. Read more on this story here. Please be aware that this report contains some upsetting details.

In what areas does Yorkshire Tea score well for its ethics?

Yorkshire Tea performs well in our Animal Welfare criterion, as neither the brand or its parent company has been criticised for any animal welfare issues in recent years. The company also has no links to the Nuclear Power, Fossil Fuels or Armaments industries.

The brand has not made any Political Donations and therefore receives a top rating in this category as well.

How can Yorkshire Tea improve its ethical rating?

The Good Shopping Guide uses three separate categories to calculate a brand’s ethical rating: the Environment, People and Animals.

To increase its overall GSG score, Yorkshire Tea should look to improve its rating in the following categories: Environmental Report, Genetic Modification, Organic, Fairtrade and Public Record Criticisms.

Do you run or work for a tea company? Do People, Animals, and the Environment really matter to your ethical tea company? Do you want to achieve our acclaimed Ethical Accreditation and receive specialised guidance on how to enhance the ethical standards of your company? Consumers trust brands with a track record of taking sustainability and ethics into account; get listed on our Ethical Ratings Tables and cut through all the greenwash. To begin, contact us or complete our preliminary assessment form.