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:

Civil Society (Non-Governmental/multilateral organization)
IDH - the Sustainable Trade Initiative

Mr. Jagjeet Singh Kandal
Civil Society (Non-Governmental/multilateral organization)
UN Women

Ms. Poulomi Pal (advisory role)

Research and Academia
Tea Research Association (TRA)

Mr. Joydeep Phukan
Tea Buyers and Packers
Gujarat Tea Processors and Packers Limited (GTTPL)

Mr. Abhishek Kapoor

Tea Buyers and Packers
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)

Mr. Mandeep Singh Tuli
Tea Buyers and Packers
Tata Consumer Products Limited (TCPL)

Mr. Puneet Das

Tea Producers and Manufacturers
United Planter's Association of Southern India (UPASI)

Mr. R Sanjith
Tea Producers and Manufacturers
Indian Tea Association (ITA)

Mr. Arijit Raha

Small Tea Grower's Representative

Confederation of Indian Small Tea Grower's Associations (CISTA)

Mr. Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty
Tea Producers and Manufacturers
Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers' Association (ABLTMA)

Mr. Gautam Beria

Ex-officio member
trustea Sustainable Tea Foundation

Mr. Rajesh Bhuyan
Civil Society (Non-Governmental/multilateral organization)
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.