We have some exciting news this month. We’re humbled to announce English Tea Shop has just received the King’s Award for Enterprise for our efforts in Sustainable Development over the years.
In 2020, English Tea Shop received what was then the Queen’s Award, for the first time, in recognition of our practice of directly working with small-scale organic farmers to support their livelihoods.
This latest award will be celebrated this June when we’ll be joined by 196 other UK-based King’s Award winners at a reception hosted by His Majesty at Windsor Castle.
We’re delighted to have such prestigious recognition of our commitment to prioritising people and purpose over profit.
As a B Corp-certified, organic tea company we do our best to tread lightly on the planet. We also care about supporting fair and sustainable working practises, partnering with more than 3,000 small-scale farmers in Sri Lanka.
A pioneer of the Creating Shared Value model, we bypass the traditional tea auction system by working directly with these farmers. This means greater supply chain transparency for you and fairer earnings for the people who grow your tea.
In the longer term, this model creates a lasting positive social and environmental impact on rural farming communities.
Other initiatives we’re involved in include biodiversity-enhancing beekeeping programmes, composting projects, climate impact research, and Sri Lanka’s first Parent & Child Benefit Programme which helps us to support families in our farming network.
It’s all part of our Prajāva (community) philosophy, rooted in inclusivity and collaboration.
Since we were founded in 2010, our company has grown to embrace over 300 employees, across our headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka and our base in London, England.
Our belief in shared rewards means we have 30% employee ownership and an ‘Open-book’ management style. After all, it’s thanks to the efforts of our employees and farming communities and our global partners that we now supply our teas to over 55 countries.
On hearing of our royal recognition our CEO Suranga Herath said: “We are incredibly humbled to receive the King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development for the second time.
“This is a celebration of everyone in our Prajāva – from our farmers and factory teams to our partners and customers. It’s proof that business can thrive while creating shared value for people and planet.”