Trade, Not Aid

We want to create a trading situation that benefits both the producer and the consumer, by using  market principles.  When it comes to supporting a regional economy that is sustainable in the long term, charitable donations and political subsidies usually do more harm than good.

Our aim is to raise consciousness about, and increase the demand for, genuine high-quality tea.  A better quality will be achieved through hiring more labor, which increases some production costs, but will result in disproportionately higher sales revenues for the producer.  Higher prices for better-grade tea, on the one hand, and greater demand for labor, on the other, allow the influential trade unions in Darjeeling to negotiate better wages and working conditions.

One tangible result we observe is that the employees on the Darjeeling plantations already enjoy better working conditions relative to other parts of India.  High-quality production is also important for another reason: at present, cheap mass production has put a downward pressure on prices worldwide, creating a glut in the market. Thus, neither the consumer nor the producer is helped by the production of an inferior and adulterated product.

Many developing countries are still exporting raw materials whose prices have a falling tendency, while prices for the import of industrial products are rising (economists refer to this as the problem of the "terms of trade"). Developing countries will always be in a weak position to achieve higher prices for their raw materials as long as the finished product is created in the buyer countries. In the case of tea, merchants in the buying countries do this through blending teas of different qualities and origins, as well as by creating a variety of flavors through aromatic additives. By contrast, the Tea Campaign buys and markets Darjeeling as an end product. As a result, there is a much smaller span between the price paid to the producer and the price charged to the customer, while the overall cost to the consumer remains low. This is a win-win concept that benefits everyone.