GSFA 2016 | Honest Tea, Inc. (U.S.A.) | Honest Origins: Paraguay

Honest Tea is the top-selling organic bottled tea company in the U.S., and in 2014 we sold our billionth beverage. At the same time, we made the major decision: to transition all of the sugar used in our glass-bottled teas from just organic to Fair Trade Certified™ & organic (tea transitioned to Fair Trade in 2011). Since 2015, all of our sugar (and tea!) across our beverage portfolio in the U.S. has been—and continues to be--sourced as both organic and Fair Trade Certified™. One of the ways we deepen our impact and help our sourcing communities is through the use of Fair Trade ingredients. The Fair Trade certification sets standards on safe working conditions and sound environmental practices, and empowers farmers to democratically address their greatest needs to improve their livelihoods. For the Fair Trade ingredients used in our beverages, we pay an additional premium on top of the price of the ingredient, and that money goes to a fund to support community development initiatives that are determined by the communities themselves. The investments range from the support of schools and hospitals to the purchase of mechanized farm equipment, which greatly increases productivity and economic self-sufficiency. Some communities have also invested in gas cook stoves instead of firewood, removing harmful smoke from homes and saving hours that would have been spent gathering firewood. Over the years, we have paid more than $1 million in Fair Trade premiums to the farmers who grow our sugar and tea around the world. In the video submitted, our co-founder Seth Goldman visited a Fair Trade sugar community in Paraguay to learn more about how Honest & Fair Trade USA were helping to make a difference.