Coimbatore: 'Trustea', the Indian sustainability code and verification system for the Indian tea sector, announced that it has verified over 608 million kgs of tea. In a statement, Rajesh Bhuyan, general manager of Trustea said, "Trustea has verified 608 million kgs of tea till February 2019, which is almost half of the total tea produced in the country annually. Trustea supports small holders and estates in improving the competitiveness of tea gardens by positively influencing the practices and scale of production, farm organization, processing, new technologies and supply chain development."
According to Rajesh, Trustea has been creating a positive impact by engaging with nearly 49,000 small holder tea growers, three lakh female workers and 2.5 lakh male tea workers. He said, "It certifies over 460 estates, and has bought leaf factories for demonstrating progress and improvements under good agricultural and manufacturing practices of the Trustea code. The code has reported an 38 percent year on year increase in 2018, and this indicates a clear transition towards changing production and business practices in the industry."
Commenting on developments, Rajesh said, "Rising demand for food safety and sustainable produce is making Trustea increasingly relevant to the Indian context. The code ensures long-term sustainability of the industry by improving the tea growing practices of the fast-growing smallholder segment and mainstreaming the bought leaf factories and small estates into the sustainability fold.”
