Taylors of Harrogate is an independent family tea and coffee business, founded in 1886. It produces a range of tea and coffee products including the UK’s leading black tea brand Yorkshire Tea. Its tea and coffee products became carbon neutral certified in July 2019 and it became a carbon neutral business in February 2020.

Taylors of Harrogate has embedded its carbon ambition into its business strategy from the start; not only through reduction efforts in its operations but by embarking on a unique programme with its long-term suppliers to tackle the interlinked challenges of climate change, smallholder livelihoods and ensuring a continuous supply of quality tea and coffee.

The company’s carbon neutral product certification is from ‘field to supermarket shelf’ accounting for all the emissions from cultivating, processing and shipping its tea and coffee as well as blending, roasting and packing it in its factory then transporting it to retailers all around the world.

Key facts

• Some of the activities Taylors of Harrogate has employed over the last 10 years to lower its footprint include: installing solar panels on the tea and coffee factory, generating almost 200,000 kwh of electricity a year; sending zero waste to landfill since 2017; increasing the efficiency of its trucks; and importing all its tea and coffee through the north East Coast of England instead of the South Coast, saving 136,000 road miles and 205.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2018 alone.
• Taylors of Harrogate has been working with the International Small Group and Tree Planting Programme in four communities in Kenya since 2015, working with smallholders and farmers in rural communities to bring them together and share best practice and knowledge on conservation farming techniques, with a view to community reforestation.
• There are currently about 7,500 tea farmers included in the project across four factories.  

The challenge

Climate change and its effects are already being felt in Taylors of Harrogate’s origin countries, from unpredictable weather patterns including drought, to increased temperatures and risk of new diseases and pests. Tea and coffee production are often one of the main sources of income for the company’s origin countries, supporting thousands of livelihoods and communities. Taylors of Harrogate relies heavily on the environment and its suppliers at origin to be able to grow and produce its products, so the company wants to protect them both as best it can.

The solution

With increasing carbon emissions being a major contributor to global warming, threatening the livelihoods of farmers and consequently its security of supply; in 2015 Taylors of Harrogate set about trying to tackle these issues and established the goal of becoming a carbon neutral business, that produces carbon neutral products. To achieve its ambition there are three aspects to its strategy; measuring its footprint, reducing this where possible and then taking action to balance remaining emissions.

Taylors of Harrogate’s product certification is from ‘field to supermarket shelf’ accounting for all the emissions from cultivating, processing and shipping its tea and coffee as well as blending, roasting and packing it in its factory then transporting it to retailers all around the world. The best practice would be to avoid or reduce emissions. Taylors of Harrogate supports this in its supply chain through its value chain investment scheme. This scheme provides funding to suppliers for both social and environmental projects and in the past has included projects on energy efficiency in tea factories in Kenya, and recycling and waste management improvements in Peru.

Helping people

Taylors of Harrogate’s carbon reduction programme also invests in initiatives and partnerships in its tea and coffee origins. These aim, where possible, to bring direct benefit to its supply chain by helping to safeguard the livelihoods of smallholder tea and coffee farmers. Taylors of Harrogate has a long history of tree planting, both in the UK and oversees. To date, the company has planted over 5 million trees.

Contributing to that total is the output so far from the first phase of its carbon investments; its 10-year tree planting partnership, working with smallholder farmers in its supply chain in Kenya through the TIST programme (The International Small Group and Tree Planting Programme). TIST work with smallholders and farmers in rural communities to bring them together and share best practice and knowledge on conservation farming techniques, with a view to community reforestation.

Taylors of Harrogate has been working with TIST in four communities in Kenya since 2015 and there are currently about 7,500 tea farmers included in the project across four factories. The project aimed to plant 960,000 trees and to date it’s led to the planting of nearly 2 million trees.

Spillover effect

The initiative with TIST in Kenya has already grown more than initially hoped. The model uses clusters to facilitate group meetings, training, and the rotational management system. At its outset the project aimed to add clusters as it went on to reach 8 clusters in total. At the end of 2020 there were 45 clusters with still plans to expand. The learnings and knowledge shared between participants in the cluster groups mean that the impact and benefit the project has on livelihoods is being felt much further throughout the regions than anticipated, with tree planting occurring not only within the cluster catchment areas but in the wider trade areas as well.

Taylors of Harrogate’s unique application of the model can also be replicated. For a company to develop in-depth understanding of their supply chain; the environment, the risks and the stakeholders that are reliant on it, particularly when using an agricultural commodity, presents an opportunity to simultaneously improve conditions in their supply chain, strengthen the long-term supply of their commodity while also addressing the challenge of climate change.

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