Quality Tea - Sustainable Sources

Positive Impacts at Picker's Pocket

Supporting local enterprise. We have engaged with some tea estates who are already doing great things: following organic farming principles to ensure regeneration of the land they work on, far exceeding minimum government requirements for pay and benefits such as operating a revenue share scheme and a welfare fund for workers as well as training employees in all aspects of the artisanal tea making process. Supporting local social enterprises and charities to purchase goods such as the handloom bags the tea is sold in. Like many things when you look deeper into the history of Ceylon tea you discover a far from perfect world where Colonialism dominated and enlisted a workforce of people with promises of work, better living conditions and quality of life for them and their families. Sadly for many people and for many years this was and is still not the case.

Free the tea leaves

Re-think Tea. You won’t see a tea bag as we choose to only stock loose leaf teas with a promise to bring you an innovative range of teas and accessories that make drinking loose leaf tea easy.

We bring the ‘natural tea bag’ to our tea brewers. Our champagne of tea, our ‘white tea stars’ and other teas not needing to be strained.

Our New Zealand designed Gaiwan allows tea to to be steeped freely and the liquid drained off simply, ready to be re-brewed.

Employment beyond the tea plantation

Our gift range of teas are packaged in brightly coloured cloth bags made by women in the plantation communities. The colourful leaf bag that houses our gifting 'English Breakfast Tea' is made by women at Mulleriyawa Halfway-home in Ella with the proceeds of the bag going to the mental health charity.

Plantation made fabric bags

Made by hand in the plantation village community.

Plantation made fabric bags

Made by hand in the plantation village community.

Handmade natural tea rods

Picker's Pocket advantage

Doing good has never tasted better. Each of the tea gardens we work with has been responsibly sourced, what does that mean? We ask questions and listen to the answers, there is always more to learn! We get to know the owners and the workers, we don’t just want to know about the quality of the tea (although that has to be fantastic) we want to be sure that each bag of tea we sell is doing good for the local community where our favourite tea plantations are.

This in itself is no small task but we like to aim high!

Sustainablity journey

We are proud to have been recognised and approved by Fair & Good & Good Market. These are organisations recognising businesses who are making an effort to offer responsible, sustainable solutions for our environment, communities & wildlife. We are super excited to announced that we are a finalist in the Good Food category of the Sustainable Business Awards 2021 and the 2021 NZ Artisan Awards.

We are not perfect but we are dedicated to keep working harder to improve.