Sustainability

Our sustainability efforts at YOGI TEA®

Decisions made and products consumed in one part of the world will always have an effect on other places worldwide and everything we do today will make a difference in the future. At YOGI TEA®, we aim to make a positive contribution to our future and do lasting good in our world. We have always made sure our thoughts and deeds follow this sustainable approach. We are delighted to be able to tell you more about how we bring this to life on a daily basis.

 

Heal and revive

100% organic: why organic is better

All the ingredients for YOGI TEA® are sourced 100% from controlled ecological farms and are therefore certified organic. Many of you already follow a healthy, sustainable lifestyle and buy organic products as a matter of course. However, it is always worth taking a closer look. What are the advantages of buying organic?

Organic farming offers a wide variety of benefits, since it is socially sustainable as well as environmentally friendly.

  • Better for the soil: sustainable farming leads to healthy, well-balanced soils with no over-exploitation of the land. This type of farming prevents pollution, from pesticides or fertilisers for example, and supports the water retention properties of the soil.
  • Lower emissions, higher biodiversity: organic farming has a smaller carbon footprint since no synthetic fertilisers are used. The lack of pesticides allows for a greater biodiversity than when conventional farming methods are used.
  • No genetic engineering: the consequences of genetic engineering are impossible to predict but a negative impact seems highly likely. It is with good reason, therefore, that organic farming prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), such as genetically modified seeds, plants and fertilisers. YOGI TEA® has never used genetic engineering and this will not change.

 

Organic farms use no pesticides – to the benefit of the environment as well as the human race. Studies have shown that pesticides are associated with a negative impact on our health.

‘Organic’ is therefore not just ecologically sustainable and good for the environment. It makes a valuable contribution towards social sustainability and we can all benefit directly from this.

 


 

Empower and enrich

Support for farmland

 

Acting sustainably is about looking ahead to the future and making long-term plans in terms of ecological and social concerns. Our partners in our growing regions also benefit from this.

Together with our partners in Sri Lanka, we have set up a long-term vanilla project, which will benefit the locals for many years to come. As well as providing jobs for 25 local people who look after the vanilla crop, the project also provides sources of income for others living in the local area, such as long-term leases for the land on which the vanilla is grown, trade in seedlings and selling organic compost. This project is designed to be a lasting partnership, allowing the farmers to plan ahead in a way they have never been able to do until now.

 

Long-term procurement

 

We are gradually introducing long-term agreements with farmers to cover the majority of our procurement for the ingredients we need. This gives our partners the peace of mind to plan for the long term and make sustainable investments in their farming practices. It means we can define joint projects, which help to improve the basic living conditions of our partners and the sustainability of their goods – and therefore also of our own products.

 

Social certifications and transparency

 

Knowing where our goods come from and how they were produced is extremely important to us. For companies like YOGI TEA®, which sources around 150 different ingredients from 50 countries worldwide, the process can obviously take some time. Nevertheless, we are absolutely determined to achieve 100% transparency for our supply chain of raw materials in the near future, and the level is already at over 80%.

 

Our duty towards our suppliers

 

We believe in promoting honesty, fairness and responsibility in our supply chain. We see all our suppliers as equal partners who support us – as we support them on a daily basis. For us this is the only way of running a business in an ethically and environmentally sound way.
 


 

Unite and enlighten

Visits to our partners

Every good relationship thrives on spending time together and learning from one another. That’s why our procurement, sustainability and quality teams make every effort to pay regular visits to as many of our partners as possible, all around the world. We believe that this plays an essential role in achieving a mutual understanding of the challenges and possibilities involved in our partnerships and in building an even better future together. This approach also allows us to provide genuine support for the communities in which our wonderful herbs, spices and teas are grown.

 

Sustainable Spices Initiative

 

The world of herbs and spices is vast and complex. And although we strive every day to achieve great things, YOGI TEA® is still a relatively small company. We have therefore joined forces with other like-minded companies in the Sustainable Spices Initiative, in order to develop lasting partnerships and forge increasingly sustainable approaches within the spices supply chain.

You can find more information on this initiative at: www.idhsustainabletrade.com

 

Ethical Tea Partnership

 

Tea is one of our most important ingredients. We are well aware that the majority of the tea grown worldwide comes from places facing economic, social and environmental challenges. YOGI TEA® wants to play an active role in overcoming these problems! We have therefore joined the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), the world’s leading organisation for promoting sustainability in the tea industry. Alongside the ETP and its partners, we aim to make further sustainable improvements in our tea supply chains

You can find more information on this initiative at: Ethical Tea Partnership

Learn more about our sustainability efforts