How we do sustainability

● To comply with, and exceed where possible, all applicable legislation, regulations and codes of practice.
● To work with suppliers who operate organic, sustainable methods of farming.
● To integrate sustainability considerations into all our business decisions.
● To ensure that all staff are fully aware of our Sustainability Policy and are committed to
implementing and improving it.
● To minimise the impact on sustainability of all office and transportation activities.
● To make clients and suppliers aware of our Sustainability Policy, and encourage them to adopt
sound sustainable management practices.
● To review, annually report, and continually strive to improve our sustainability performance.

Sourcing & partners
● Work with farmers who adopt organic and sustainable farming practices using recycled or recyclable materials.
● Pay a premium above the fair trade price for ingredients.
● Support our factory’s charity to improve the lives of farm and factory workers, their
families and the wider community.
● Always ship, rather than air freight, unless absolutely necessary.

Working practices and advice to customers
● Encourage customers where possible to order larger quantities, less often, to reduce the number of deliveries.
● Ensure that all staff are aware of our policies and communicate these to our customers.
● Include a copy of our Sustainability Policy with all proposals.

Office and travel practices
● Minimise the use of paper and other consumables by only printing where absolutely necessary, and when doing so printing double-sided, and reducing waste.
● Recycle all materials where possible.
● Reduce energy consumption by using energy-efficient light bulbs and educating staff not to use lights when not necessary and not to waste water, when filling up the kettle only use as much water as is needed.
● Walk, cycle or use public transport to travel from home to work and to meetings where possible.
● Enrol all employees on the Cycle to Work scheme and encourage them to use it.

Date of next review ­January 2024

We are very proud to be an approved supplier by the Sustainable Restaurant Association, meaning that we have met the criteria for their three pillars of assessment; sourcing, society and environment.

We are by no means perfect in everything that we do but as a business, we are striving to be the better all the time and to ensure that we have a good impact on the people we work with and the environment.

“Joe’s Tea is a sustainable choice for our members. They joined the Food Made Good community in 2016. Since then Joe and team have been great allies in our journey towards a better food system. Joe himself helped us develop the ‘support global farmers’ asks to restaurants in 2018 and beneath the lovely branding (and delicious tea) there’s a bunch of people trying to do the right thing.”
– Andrew Stephen CEO, The Sustainable Restaurant Association