Many companies in tea-producing regions worldwide endeavor to improve the lives of female tea workers, their families, and communities. According to the UN and World Bank, providing education for young girls and economic resources to women is one of the best ways to help end poverty in developing countries.
Here’s a collection of tea companies that work hard to empower their female employees, support charities that help the underserved, and are owned by women. If you know of a company that embodies these values and should be on this list, please tell us about it and leave a link in the comments section below.
Brook37 Tea Atelier | Mother’s Day Classic Hamper
This unique tea and chocolate pairing kit comes with two Brook37 signature canisters of Classic or Wellness teas, two Chocolate bars that pair with the teas, and a handmade silver plated spoon. Founder Mou Dasgupta believes that women can lead and grow a brand as efficiently, if not better, than men. Mou says, “Ninety percent of our workforce, including our tea sommelier, are women. We center around quality, people, and the planet in every stage of our value chain. We align ourselves with values we strongly believe in and became Rainforest Alliance and Plastic Negative certified before we even launched.”
$130 | Makes 80 cups | Your tea choices: Madison Morning | Bourbon St. Sip | Lemon Ginger | Sweet Ceylon Spicey Berry | Two chocolate bars that pair with the teas you select will be added by our tea sommelier | www.brook37.com
Kazi Yetu | Hibiscus Star
This vibrant herbal tea from Kazi Yetu makes a beautiful Mother’s Day gift. Hibiscus flowers are full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Relaxing and delicious, it can be served hot, made into a refreshing iced tea, or even used to liven up a festive Mother’s Day cocktail. Kazi Yetu creates jobs for women in Tanzania and offers their growers and suppliers numerous benefits that improve their lives.
$14 | 20 Pyramid Bags | https://www.kazi-yetu.com/
Hatvala | Black Jasmine Tea
This unique Vietnamese tea blends all-natural Jasmine flower blossoms with wild black tea to create a gentle floral tea with sweet, malty overtones. Ngo, Hatvala’s master flavored tea blender, is an incredible woman. Living in Hanoi, she’s made premium floral teas for decades. Ngo is currently 82 and has no desire to stop practicing her craft.
$ 10.49 | 50g Loose Leaf Tea | https://hatvala.com/
Vahdam | Margarets Hope Moonlight Darjeeling First Flush Black Tea
This exquisite tea is delicate and decadent. Its sweet aroma is honeysuckle mixed with orchids, and the palate has hints of mango and peach. Vahdam Tea is a company that cares deeply for the people who grow and process its teas. Vahdam champions single-estate varieties and sustainable methods and donates a portion of its profits to help educate the children of farmers and workers.
$34.99 | 1.76oz Loose Leaf Tea | https://www.vahdam.com/
Key To Teas | Mother’s Wish
This soothing herbal blend consists of galactagogue-beneficial botanical ingredients such as fenugreek, anise, and fennel, which may help promote lactation. New mothers need all the help they can get, so proceeds from this tea support La Leche League’s efforts to educate and assist breastfeeding women.
$ 8.50 | 2oz Loose Leaf Tea | https://keytoteas.com/
Karma Kettle | Hand Embroidered Tea Towels
All of Karma Kettle’s premium-sourced teas are a delight. The company supports sustainable farming and packaging methods and Organic sourcing whenever possible. A female-owned tea company, Karma Kettle also partners with local artisan groups to help increase the value of women’s traditional crafts. This provides opportunities and training for young women to improve their skills and earn a better living from their unique abilities.
RS 380 | Set of 2 Cotton Tea Towels | https://www.karmakettle.com/
KTE | Muscatel Tea
KTE is a certified organic tea company that has established a sustainable tea farming community in Nepal. More than 70% of its workforce is women, and it invests heavily in education for the children of its farmers and workers. The Muscatel tea from KTE has a beautiful rose finish balanced by honey and woodsy notes. This tea makes you feel as good as it tastes. It is available for purchase through the Nepal Tea Collective.
$12 | 1oz Loose Leaf Tea | https://nepalteacollective.com/
Kirokuen | Tencha
Tencha is a rare Japanese green tea that’s seldom sold in Japan. The first flush buds are considered the highest quality because they contain the most nutrients built up over winter. For that reason, tencha is almost exclusively ground into ceremonial-grade matcha. But Kirokuen is unique in everything it does. Run by a mother and her two daughters, Kirokuen refuses to blend tea harvested from different fields and specializes in rare varietals that have almost been forgotten in Japan.
¥1,300.00 JPY | 40g Loose Leaf Tea | https://www.kirokuen.com/
Floating Leaves | Dong Ding Traditional A
Shiuwen Tai has converted North Americans into Taiwanese tea fanatics for almost twenty years. Shiuwen and her partner Noah are dedicated to sourcing only the finest small-batch single-origin loose-leaf teas and building lifelong partnerships with farmers and producers. An example of the close bonds they form with their suppliers is Mrs. Su, who has been charcoal roasting oolongs for floating leaves since 2008. When Noah decided to learn the art of charcoal roasting, Mrs. Su and her husband taught him how. The Dong Ding Traditional A is a magnificent roasted oolong that grounds the soul and warms the heart.
$12.50 | 30g Loose Leaf | https://floatingleaves.com/
Les Jardins de Gaïa | A Woman’s Dream Organic White Tea
Founded in 1994 by Arlette Rohmer, Les Jardin de Gaïa has become one of France’s leading organic and socially responsible tea companies. Les Jardins’ workforce is 70% female, and they work hard to ensure their suppliers are paid fair wages and given access to advanced sustainable, organic, and bio-dynamic methods. They also contribute to charities that strive to improve the lives of families in tea regions. The Woman’s Dream Organic White tea contains a subtle hint of peach and mango and is the perfect addition to a zesty Mother’s Day cocktail.
€7.55 | 50g Loose Leaf | https://www.jardinsdegaia.com/
The Tea Spot | Himalayan charity: water Tea Tumbler
The Tea Spot has partnered with a charity: water, to provide communities worldwide with access to clean water. In developing countries, women usually walk long distances daily to collect water for the family. Easily accessible wells allow young girls to attend school regularly and give women more free time to earn extra income for their families. The Tea Spot’s owner used tea to help her recover from cancer treatments. As a former engineer, she takes the concept of healthy hydration to heart and designs her ‘steepware’ collection to meet the needs of busy modern women.
$45.95 | 320z Stainless Steele Tea Tumnler | https://www.theteaspot.com/
Thanks for this wonderful article, Diana! It’s wonderful to have a wide range of tea makers highlighted, and wanted to (humbly) let you and Tea Journey readers know about our work to launch a farmer-owned tea factory in the Kumaon region of the Indian Himalayas. 90% of the beneficiaries are women, most earning their first ever independent income through tea. Beyond sharing ownership, we’re organizing business trainings for women through a local co-op that specializes in women’s empowerment.
In addition, we work with Tea Studio in the Nilgiris, which is India’s first all-women team of tea makers. They are reshaping gender norms in a number of ways — for example, by having women deciding the green leaf price they buy at, women are determining the value of men’s work, which is a first for the region.
Both Kumaon and Nilgiri teas are available through our site, https://youngmountaintea.com/collections/teas
This is fantastic news Raj. Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to check out these companies. So happy to hear about the wonderful work you’re doing!
Hello Diana!
The Republic of Tea enriches people’s lives with premium teas and herbs and elevates tea workers in many ways, including the Women of Tea: Sri Lanka project. You can learn more about it here: https://www.republicoftea.com/our-impact/a/impact/
The Republic of Tea, in partnership with the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, along with several other tea companies, recently concluded a four-year project focusing on women’s nutrition in Assam, India, Kenya, and Malawi. More information can be found here: https://www.gainhealth.org/sites/default/files/news/documents/healthy-diets-communities.pdf
More programs are in the planning phases to continue this important work to help the women of tea access good nutrition, financial literacy, and gender equity.
Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing Kristina. I will definitely check out these partnerships. This fills my heart with joy knowing there are so many tea companies and individuals working hard to improve the lives of their female workers.