Towards strengthening trustea’s mandate on sustainability, ‘trustea Sustainable Tea Foundation’ has been incorporated. The Foundation will be managing the trustea Program independently.The main focus for the Program has been to develop and implement a cost effective and practical sustainability code based on Indian realities without compromising on globally accepted sustainability principles. The India specific sustainability tea cod
e,trustea has been developed from the industry, by the industry and for the industry.
The first meeting of ‘trustea Sustainable Tea Foundation Council’(a multi-stakeholder committee whose role is to advise and make recommendations to the Foundation on matters pertaining to trustea and the trustea Code) took place on 12th September 2019 that had representation from various sections of tea fraternity and it exhibited an exchange of great ideas.
The initiative will facilitate in upholding the mission and the long-term objectives of the trustea Program. With the expertise brought into by the new implementation partners Viz. ‘Tea Research Association (TRA)’, ‘Tata Trust’ and ‘Action for Food Production (AFPRO)’, the Program is set to deliver higher value to the community, enabled with enhanced outreach.
A tea trade dinner was hosted by trustea on the evening of 12th September 2019. The chief guest for the evening was Mr. Prabhat Kamal Bezbaruah, Chairman, Tea Board of India who shared his tacit knowledge on how to take the Program to new heights. An eminent speaker from the tea industry, Mr. Gautam Beria, senior office-bearer of the Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers’ Association shared his experience on how the program has made an impact on the ground. Mr. Rajesh Bhuyan, Director, trustea Sustainable Tea Foundationshared an update on the Programand the future plans.A thought provokingpanel discussion was the key highlight of the event, wherein the panellists exchanged their insights on the sector. The panel comprises:
- JagjeetKandal, Managing Director, Amalgamated Plantations Pvt. Ltd.
- Jordy Van Honk, Program Director at IDH -The Sustainable Trade Initiative
- Sandip Ghosh, Secretary (Sustainability), Indian Tea Association
- Mr. Rajdeep Sikand, Director of Blending & Commercial Support, Tata Global Beverages Ltd.
- Rajesh Bhuyan, Director, trusteaSustainable Tea Foundation
The event was a great success with unprecedented participation and knowledge sharing of the tea fraternity!
