Video: How Brands and Retailers Can Support Women and Children in Sri Lanka’s Tea Industry

Tea has been enjoyed for thousands of years, but its recent surge in popularity hasn’t translated into better conditions for those who produce it. The price paid to tea producers remains stubbornly low, and in key tea producing countries like Sri Lanka, estates operate on razor-thin margins. Yet, improving working conditions—especially for women and children—requires real investment. Tea producers can’t shoulder this responsibility alone.

Despite these challenges, seven of Sri Lanka’s largest tea companies and brokers are stepping up. They are investing in the Mother and Child-Friendly Seal for Responsible Business, a commitment to strengthening child rights, improving gender equality, and creating safer, fairer workplaces for women, children and families in tea communities.

Responsibility, however, doesn’t stop at the plantation. If you source tea from Sri Lanka—no matter how much—you have a role to play in ensuring the well-being of tea communities and preventing risks like child labour. That means taking action to protect workers, support women, and safeguard children’s rights across the supply chain.

How Brands and Retailers Can Support Women and Children in Tea Communities

Our latest video breaks down how the Mother and Child-Friendly Seal initiative works and some of the steps businesses are taking to improve conditions for tea workers and their families. As a brand or retailer, here’s how you can help drive meaningful change and ensure strong, continuous human rights due diligence in Sri Lanka’s tea sector:

Invest in the Seal Initiative:

• Co-share the annual cost of Seal enrollment for tea producers in your supply chain
  Become a Seal Ally by contributing to Seal activities, such as the Seal Challenge and Annual Conference

Strengthen Child Rights Protections in the Tea Supply Chain:

• Join as a Hub Member in Sri Lanka’s new Child Rights Action Hub, an initiative tackling risks such as child labour, lack of access to education, and unsafe working conditions for young workers

Champion Gender Equality in Tea Communities:

• Help expand the Gender Champions Initiative, empowering women in the tea sector and addressing gender-based inequalities

The call for better working conditions and meaningful human rights due diligence is getting louder. This is a moment for brands and retailers to show their commitment by actively investing in the people behind the tea.

Contact us to learn more.