Top UK brands drop Assam supplier over working conditions
Some of the UK's leading tea brands announced a halt in purchases from the Assam Company, which was implicated in last year's BBC report about dangerous working conditions. Twinings, Taylors of Harrogate and Fortnum & Mason stopped buying tea from a group of estates that was found to breach rules by allowing workers to spray agrochemicals without proper personal protective equipment. The Rainforest Alliance and The Ethical Tea Partnership, both involved in the certification of the estates, have now stripped the Assam Company of its certification and have admitted flaws in the audit process. As a result of the BBC investigation, the organizations also announced stricter qualifying criteria, including the provision of adequate housing, water supply and sanitation to plantation workers.