Fighting for Fairer Tea at Downing Street

Clipper Teas joined the Fairtrade Foundation, and a coalition of supporters, at Downing Street to hand in the Brew It Fair petition on World Human Rights Day (10 December).

Lobbying for a change in the system, Clipper is supporting the campaign to make tea fairer for the farmers who grow it. This includes a petition by the Fairtrade Foundation that has been signed by over 21,000 people and supported by over 80 members of parliament.

The petition appeals to the government to introduce Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) legislation, which tackles issues in tea supply chains and lobbies for a level playing field in the industry. Over 100 million cups of tea are drunk every day in the UK, yet many farmers and workers are not paid fairly.

Clipper and Fairtrade representatives stood alongside celebrity activists, including British drag performer, singer, and TV personality Tia Kofi, brandishing striking placards crafted in a creative workshop led by @Teadayblogs. Together, they drew attention to the urgent need to protect the livelihoods of tea farmers, who are increasingly burdened by rising costs, climate pressures, and volatile market prices. Key messages from the petition include:

1. Introduce HREDD legislation to hold companies accountable for human rights and environmental impacts in tea supply chains.
2. Protect farmers and workers by tackling poverty wages, unsafe conditions, and exploitation, especially in Kenya where most UK tea is sourced.
3. Collaborate for change across government, business, and worker groups to secure living incomes, climate resilience, and fair competition.

Bryan Martins, CEO at Ecotone UK which owns Clipper Teas, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Andy Hickman, head of human rights at Sainsbury’s, Martin Rhodes MP, chair of the Fairtrade All Party Parliamentary Group, and Marie Rumsby from the Fairtrade Foundation to hand over the petition.

“It was a highlight of my career to date to be part of the Brew It Fair petition as the main tea brand to be involved. To be there, at Downing Street, to deliver such a powerful message and to show up for the producers that need our support was inspiring. The volume of tea we consume in Britain is huge, yet only 10% is Fairtrade certified. There is also very little awareness of the lives of the people behind the nation’s beloved brew,” said Bryan Martins.

Martins explained that “the government, and the tea industry as a whole, needs to do better to support people on the ground. They need fair pay, access to medical care and education, and generally better standards of living. It is why at Clipper; we were the first UK tea brand to become Fairtrade certified and worked with Fairtrade to set the Fairtrade tea standards over 30 years ago.”

Fairtrade also presented an Open Letter from over 250 tea farmers and workers in Kenya – an area where almost half of the UK’s tea comes from yet only 1 in 5 tea growers earn enough to support basic family needs. The letter calls on UK businesses and policymakers to protect the human rights of tea workers, end the poverty wages and help them mitigate the effects of climate change.

Marie Rumsby, director of communications and advocacy at Fairtrade Foundation, added, “My hope is for fair tea – where all growers earn a decent income, work in safe conditions, can support their families, and send their children to school – but we are far from that reality. That’s why we are proud to stand with brands like Clipper and Sainsbury’s, rallying support for fairer tea and calling for new UK legislation to level the playing field, ensuring all tea companies and retailers take responsibility for addressing human rights abuses and environmental harm in their supply chains.”

The petition submission at Downing Street concludes a year of dedicated campaigning for a fairer tea system. The Brew It Fair campaign, announced earlier this year on International Tea Day, also included a sampling event in London’s BOXPARK (Shoreditch), presence at this year’s Glastonbury festival and a star-studded afternoon tea event. The events aimed to engage with and encourage people to make proactive purchasing decisions that support Fairtrade tea producers.

Clipper is a founding Fairtrade organisation and has been the number one UK tea brand for Fairtrade tea for nine consecutive years. In 2024 alone, Clipper officials report that the company sold more Fairtrade tea than any other tea brand globally — the equivalent of 645 million cups of tea. From this, producers in Clipper’s supply chain earned £505,823 in Premium contributions from its global tea sales – an extra sum of money that farmers and workers invest in areas such as farming improvements and community initiatives of their choice.