Twinings (/ˈtwaɪnɪŋz/ⓘ) is a British marketer of tea and other beverages, including coffee, hot chocolate and malt drinks, based in Andover, Hampshire.[2] The brand is owned by Associated British Foods. It holds the world's oldest continually used company logo, and is London's longest-standing ratepayer, having occupied the same premises on the Strand since 1706.[3] Twinings tea varieties include black tea, green tea and herbal teas, along with fruit-based cold infusions.[4]
Holder of a royal warrant, Twinings was acquired by Associated British Foods in 1964.[9] The company is associated with Earl Grey tea, a tea infused with bergamot, though it is unclear when this association began, and how important the company's involvement with the tea has been. Competitor Jacksons of Piccadilly – acquired by Twinings during the 1990s – also had associations with the bergamot blend.[10]
In April 2008, Twinings announced their decision to close its BelfastNambarrie plant, a tea company in trade for over 140 years.[11] Citing an "efficiency drive", Twinings moved most of its production to China and Poland in late 2011, while retaining its Andover, Hampshire factory with a reduced workforce.[12]
In 2023, Twinings ceased production of lapsang souchong, replacing it with a product called "Distinctively Smoky", widely considered to be inferior quality.[13][14]Lapsang souchong was one of the tea blends sold by Twinings since the 1700s[15] and was regarded as the favorite drink of Winston Churchill.[16] Twinings cited difficulty sourcing the blend along with rising market prices for the substitution.[17]
Ethics
Twining's tricycle
Twinings' ethical tea programme, Sourced with Care, aims to improve the quality of life in the communities from which it buys tea.[18] The company is a founding member of the Ethical Tea Partnership,[19] a not-for-profit membership organisation of tea-packing companies which undertake monitoring and improving conditions on tea estates in all major tea-growing regions.[20] Twinings has an Ethical Code of Conduct[21] and works with all its packaging and raw material suppliers to ensure decent working conditions in the supply chain.[22]
In August 2018, Twinings published a list of all its tea suppliers in India on its Sourced with Care website. This came after Traidcraft Exchange called on all the major UK tea brands to show the public which tea plantations they buy from and crack down on modern slavery in the supply chain. Traidcraft Exchange welcomed the move, their policy adviser, Fiona Gooch, saying that it would put "pressure on the other big tea brands ... to follow suit".[23]
Notable members of the Twining family
Thomas Twining (1675–1741), tea merchant, Twinings founder
^Standage, Tom (2005). A history of the world in six glasses. New York: Walker. p. 202.
^Hall, Nick (2 June 2000). The Tea Industry. Woodhead Publishing Ltd. p. 58. ISBN9781845699222. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
^"Tea Time Over For Nambarrie". Northern Ireland: 4NI.co.uk Northern Ireland News. 11 April 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2009. One of Northern Ireland's top teas – and a favourite in Scotland too – is no longer to be packed in central Belfast.
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