TETLEY TEA, “FARMERS FIRST HAND”

A high profile and influential panel of sustainability experts nominated Farmers First Hand as a runner up in the Communicating Sustainability Category. Farmers First Hand was conceived and launched in support of the business’ commitment to source 100% of the tea for its Tetley brand from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms by 2016. Tata Global Beverages’ collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance represents its first major sustainability initiative as it implements its strategy and the first major step on Tata Global Beverages’ journey to becoming a more sustainable business.

Farmers First Hand is all about connection through conversation; audience involvement and participation is central to the Farmers First Hand concept. The project evolved from the idea of enabling direct contact between consumers and producers, allowing them to have a dialogue and an interaction that previously hadn’t been possible or attempted.

Farmers First Hand uses a dedicated page on the social networking site Facebook as its principal communication channel. The BCA team was tasked with flying out to Malawi to film a recruited group of smallholder farmers and estate workers This was followed up by filming at the Rooibos plantations in Clanwilliam, South Africa. The interviews with the farmers were in conjunction with the sustainability experts panel, using phones to send daily updates via text message which were then uploaded to the Facebook page. Consumers, or Facebook “fans” of the page, would then make comments and  ask questions which in turn were sent back to the farmers for their response. These responses were filmed for the Facebook page and enabled conversations on various topics. Topics ranged from aspects of daily life such as meal times and work, to family and social life as well as community and cultural events. BCA produced photos  and video stories to be posted on to the Facebook page.