Tata Tea

Harm on record

Harm on record. Has recent confirmed harm to workers that it hasn't put right.

Tea

Partly verified

Last researched 3 November 2026 · 7 sources

India's best-known packaged tea brand.

In 2026, workers on Tata-linked estates had low wages, poor housing and sanitation, and pesticide risks.

Also worth knowing

Tata Tea has only partly put this right.

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Why it's graded Harm on record

Not met: Meets 1 of 5 Good requirements.
Holds the grade back: It has 3 red flags: no evidence of a living wage, clear breaches of labour conditions and unaudited production in high-risk countries. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
Holds the grade back: It's Harm on record because of a serious confirmed problem from the last 5 years that it has only partly put right: unsafe conditions, last recorded in 2026.

How grades are decided

Good requirements 1 of 5

Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
Not met: Respects worker rightsA confirmed problem counts against it: unsafe conditions, last recorded in 2026
Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
Met: No child or forced labour findings or links
Not met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that list

Red flags 3

Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
Red flag: Clear breaches of labour conditions
Red flag: Made mostly in countries with poor worker rights, without a full independent audit of its supply chain

Stars it would earn as Good

None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars

Where its tea is grown

Tata Tea names some of the countries its tea comes from: India. The rest is shown as where tea is usually grown.

Where its tea is grown, and conditions there
Country	Worker rights	Legal minimum wage	Forced labour risk
India	No guarantee of rights	Well below a living wage	High
KenyaUsual for the industry	Systematic violations	Well below a living wage	Moderate
Sri LankaUsual for the industry	Systematic violations	Well below a living wage	Moderate
ChinaUsual for the industry	No guarantee of rights	Below a living wage	Moderate
MalawiUsual for the industry	Strong protections	Far below a living wage	Moderate
IndonesiaUsual for the industry	No guarantee of rights	Well below a living wage	Moderate

Evidence

What we found

Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: tea estate wages in Assam, Sri Lanka and Kenya are among the lowest of any export crop, often paid partly in kind (housing, rations).
Modern slavery statement

Research notes Tata Tea is blended from Indian tea bought through offices in Assam and West Bengal and from estates linked to Tata, but no country shares or supplier list are published for the brand. In 2022-23 55% of Tata Tea carried the Indian trustea code, which has basic labour checks but is not an independent certification like Fairtrade; the group's Indian plantations are Rainforest Alliance certified. Estates of Tata-linked Amalgamated Plantations were found to have low wages and poor housing, and the World Bank ombudsman said in 2026 that fixes were still incomplete. There is no living wage commitment.

What independent sources say

Source	Result	Details
News reporting and NGO investigations	Listed	The World Bank's CAO found in November 2016 that wages, housing, sanitation and pesticide safety on Tata-linked APPL estates fell short; reported by Reuters via The Irrawaddy. View
News reporting and NGO investigations	Listed	The CAO case on APPL's Assam estates remains open in monitoring; its April 2026 report found housing, sanitation and independent audit commitments still unimplemented. View
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre	Listed	Its tea transparency tracker names the Tata Group as owner of APPL, subject of the World Bank complaint over Assam estates. View
Fairtrade (incl. FLOCERT and Fairtrade ANZ)	Not listed	Tata Tea relies on the Indian trustea code (63% of Tata Consumer's tea in FY2025-26) rather than Fairtrade. View
UK Modern Slavery Statement Registry	Listed	Parent Tata Consumer Products publishes UK modern slavery statements, mainly covering Tetley. View
Australian Modern Slavery Register	Unclear	No Australian modern slavery statement covering Tata Tea was identified. View

Confirmed issues 1

Only confirmed problems are listed, and old ones drop off after 10 to 15 years. A problem the company has fully put right no longer counts against it, and nor does one it finds and is fixing itself. How problems are counted

Last recorded	What happened	Made amends?
2026	The World Bank's ombudsman (CAO) found in 2016 that Amalgamated Plantations, then 41% owned by Tata and running former Tata Tea estates in Assam and West Bengal, had low wages, poor housing and sanitation and pesticide risks; its April 2026 monitoring found housing, sanitation and audit commitments still unmet. Source · search the archive	PartlyAPPL has an improvement plan, but CAO monitoring in 2024 and 2026 found housing and sanitation work incomplete; no back pay or compensation reported.

Unconfirmed reports

Credible reports that haven't been confirmed by a regulator, completed investigation or the company. They're shown for your information and don't affect the grade.

Complaints to the World Bank in 2013 and a 2014 Columbia Law School report alleged supervisor abuse, coercion and obstruction of new unions on Amalgamated Plantations estates; the company disputed the report (Down To Earth, 2014). Source

Sources and actions

Sources 7

Show all 7 sources

Tata Tea under scanner for poor living condition and coercion of workers (Down To Earth) · search the archive · 2014 complaints and Columbia report allege coercion, union obstruction and poor sanitation; APPL disputed
India: Tata Tea-02/Assam (CAO case page) · search the archive · 2016 non-compliance on living and working conditions at APPL; 2024 and 2026 monitoring found housing and sanitation still incomplete
Tata tea project fails to protect Indian workers (The Irrawaddy/Reuters, 2016) · search the archive · CAO November 2016 findings on APPL wages and housing; Tata holds 41%; APPL improvement plan
Tata Tea Premium 900g (Tales of India) · search the archive · Sold by Australian Indian grocer with a factory outlet in Ravenhall, Victoria

Published by Tata Tea or its owner

Tata Consumer Products IAR 2025-26: Better sourcing · search the archive · 63% of tea procured trustea certified in FY2025-26; Indian plantations Rainforest Alliance certified; supplier code; no living wage
Tata Consumer Products IAR 2022-23: For Better sourcing · search the archive · 55% of Tata Tea trustea certified in FY2022-23
Tata Consumer Products: Operations · search the archive · Tea buying offices in Guwahati (Assam) and Siliguri (West Bengal); packeting centres at APPL-linked sites in India

Company details

Owned by: Tata Consumer Products
Headquarters: India
Last researched: 3 November 2026
Cite this page: Labour Lens, "Is Tata Tea ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/tata-tea, last researched 3 November 2026, accessed [date].
Method: Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Harm on record means

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