Governance
The trustea program is governed by multi-stakeholder trustea Sustainable Tea Council representing the tea industry in India. The Council acts as the representative organ for leading the multi stakeholder program to improve the sustainability of the Indian tea industry through the voluntary adoption of the trustea code. Currently the Council has the following representation:
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IDH - the Sustainable Trade Initiative
Mr. Jagjeet Singh Kandal
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UN Women
Ms. Poulomi Pal (advisory role)
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Tea Research Association (TRA)
Mr. Joydeep Phukan
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Gujarat Tea Processors and Packers Limited (GTTPL)
Mr. Rajiv Bhargava
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Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)
Mr. Mandeep Singh Tuli
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Tata Consumer Products Limited (TCPL)
Mr. Puneet Das
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United Planter's Association of Southern India (UPASI)
Mr. R Sanjith
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Indian Tea Association (ITA)
Mr. Arijit Raha
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Small Tea Grower's Representative
Confederation of Indian Small Tea Grower's Associations (CISTA)
Mr. Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty
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Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers' Association (ABLTMA)
Mr. Gautam Beria
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trustea Sustainable Tea Foundation
Mr. Rajesh Bhuyan
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Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP)
Ms. Ranjana Das
To access the ‘trustea Council Charter’, please click on Download
Program Funding
Trustea programme was launched in July 2013 – concurrent to the launch, trustea Secretariat was established. The first producer was verified in November 2013 as a pilot project. The programme started operating with grants from the main stakeholders that were IDH, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and Tata Consumer Products Limited (TCPL), which was later strengthened by the joining of WaghBakri Group (GTPPL) in the year 2017.
As part of the long-term strategy, a new ‘Section 8’ entity called trustea Sustainable Tea Foundation was incorporated in May 2019. Subsequently, a multi-stakeholder council called the trustea Sustainable Tea Council was formed in September 2019, in line with the company’s Articles of Association.
Currently, the programme is in a transition phase towards adopting a new business model, under which it will operate through funds realized from the trustea “seal on pack” and certification process. Through this transition period, the company will continue to operate on a grant-based model.