Twinings
Partly verified✓ Checks its own supply chain. Twinings actively looks for problems such as child or forced labour, publishes what it finds and works to fix it. That openness is uncommon, so problems it finds and reports itself are shown below but don't count against its grade.
Twinings raises serious concerns: there are documented abuses of workers, and workers in the countries tea usually comes from, such as India and Kenya are very unlikely to earn a living wage. A 2023 BBC investigation exposed supervisors sexually exploiting women workers on Kenyan tea estates run by James Finlay, a Twinings supplier. Finlay ended its contractor's agreement and suspended a manager, and Kenyan police opened an investigation.
Last researched 8 October 2026
Not doing enough. Workers in the supply chain are likely underpaid, unprotected or in danger, and in the worst cases face forced or child labour. Look for a better-graded alternative. What this grade means
Good: 3 of 5
- Pays a living wage
- Respects worker rights
- Full supply chain audit, or made only in countries with rigorous labour standards
- No child or forced labour findings
- Publishes where its products are made (supplier list, named farms or its own factories)
Great: 1 of 3
- Pays beyond a living wage
- Finds and fixes problems, or invests directly in workers' communities
- Actively empowers workers
Needs all Good requirements plus two of these.
Red flags: 2
- Does not pay a living wage
- Clear breaches of labour conditions
Where it's made: not disclosed
Showing where tea products are usually made instead.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal wages | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| India 30% | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | High |
| Kenya 25% | Regular violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Sri Lanka 20% | Regular violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| China 15% | Systematic violations | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| Malawi 5% | Some protections | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| Indonesia 5% | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Country conditions from the ITUC Global Rights Index, Global Slavery Index and living wage benchmarks. Certifications and audits can raise a company above its countries' baseline.
Why this grade
- Tea estate wages in Assam, Sri Lanka and Kenya are among the lowest of any export crop, often paid partly in kind (housing, rations). (partly offset by certification or direct sourcing)
- Rainforest Alliance: Audited farm standard with no minimum price; weaker on wages than Fairtrade.
- Publishes supplier list
- Modern slavery statement
- Invests in worker and farming communities
- Independent social audits of all its main factories
Twinings, owned by Associated British Foods, buys tea from 142 gardens in seven countries, including India, Kenya, China, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. It buys only from Rainforest Alliance certified gardens and publishes a sourcing map of its suppliers. Through its Sourced with Care programme it assesses every tea estate, funds water, sanitation and women's safety programmes, and has run small living wage pilots with IDH in Sri Lanka and Kenya. It has no time-bound plan to close the living wage gap and does not publish wage data for the estates it buys from. Serious problems at supplying estates have been reported in 2015, 2023 and 2025.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Found | Associated British Foods' Australian and New Zealand businesses lodge a joint modern slavery statement that covers Twinings. View ↗ |
| UK Modern Slavery Statement Registry | Unclear | Associated British Foods publishes a group modern slavery statement for 2025 that covers Twinings, but the registry entry itself was not located. View ↗ |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Found | The US Department of Labor lists tea from India for forced labour and tea from Kenya for child labour, two of Twinings' main origins. View ↗ |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Found | Lists Twinings in stories on Sri Lankan tea wages, sexual abuse on Kenyan tea farms and conditions on certified Sri Lankan estates, and Twinings answered all 3 requests for a response. View ↗ |
Confirmed issues
Problems confirmed by a court, regulator, completed investigation or the company itself. Issues more than 15 years old, or 10–15 years old where the company made amends, are removed. Problems a company finds and publishes itself, and is fixing, are shown but don't count against it.
| When | What happened | Made amends? |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Twinings' 2025 Sustainability Report discloses wage anomalies affecting migrant workers at five tea gardens in southern India that supply it. Found and being fixed by the company Not counted against the grade, because the company found and published it itself. | Partly Twinings reports remediation: ethical recruitment training, bank accounts for migrant workers and better living conditions. It does not say whether back pay was made. |
| 2022 | A 2023 BBC investigation exposed supervisors sexually exploiting women workers on Kenyan tea estates run by James Finlay, a Twinings supplier. Finlay ended its contractor's agreement and suspended a manager, and Kenyan police opened an investigation. | Partly Twinings stopped new orders of Finlays' Kenyan tea while an independent investigation ran. It has since trained 958 supervisors in Kenya on preventing harassment. No compensation for affected workers |
| 2015 | A 2015 BBC investigation found broken housing, overflowing sanitation and workers spraying agrochemicals without protective equipment on Assam estates supplying Twinings, including McLeod Russel and Assam Company estates. McLeod Russel admitted the conditions were not acceptable. | Partly Twinings suspended business with the Assam Company, reviewed its Assam estates through the Ethical Tea Partnership, and published its full list of Indian suppliers in 2018. It now funds toilets and wa |
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.
- A 2025 ABC Foreign Correspondent report found low wages, run-down housing, poor water and toilets, and children under 16 working on certified Sri Lankan tea estates in the supply chains of Twinings and other brands. Twinings said it checks suppliers against its Code of Conduct and fixes any failures it finds. Source ↗
- In 2022 five Sri Lankan plantation companies supplying Twinings were among those challenging a government wage increase for tea workers. Twinings said in 2023 that the suppliers confirmed they comply with the new minimum wage. Source ↗
Sources (12)
- Twinings - Wikipedia · archived copy · Owned by Associated British Foods since 1964; HQ Andover, England; founding member of the Ethical Tea Partnership; published its full list of Indian tea suppliers in August 2018
- Twinings Sustainability Report 2025 · archived copy · 142 gardens in 7 countries; Rainforest Alliance certified gardens only; garden list published; estate assessments; migrant worker wage anomalies at five southern Indian gardens and their remediation;
- Sourced with Care - Twinings · archived copy · Tea from seven countries; sourcing map; programme launched 2016; links to 2025 modern slavery statement
- Sourced with Care (twinings.co.uk) · archived copy · Names Kenya, India and China as tea origins; community programmes
- Twinings publishes full list of its tea suppliers in India (The Grocer) · archived copy · Twinings published its Indian tea suppliers on an online sourcing map
- Twinings response to BHRRC, 6 March 2023 · archived copy · Twinings sources from Finlays in Kenya and stopped new orders while an independent investigation ran
- UK Govt Responds to Sexual Harassment in Kenyan Tea Farm (Kenyans.co.ke, Feb 2023) · archived copy · BBC documentary of 20 Feb 2023 on sexual exploitation at James Finlay Kenya; Finlay ended its contractor's agreement and suspended a manager; police investigation called for
- Three UK tea brands drop Indian supplier over work conditions (BHRRC, Jan 2016) · archived copy · After the 2015 BBC investigation Twinings suspended business with the Assam Company; workers sprayed chemicals without protective equipment
- Tea brands vow to improve conditions after damning BBC tea estate report (The Caterer) · archived copy · BBC found dangerous and degrading housing and sanitation on McLeod Russel estates supplying Twinings; McLeod Russel admitted conditions were not acceptable
- Sri Lanka: low wages, dilapidated housing... on Rainforest Alliance certified tea estates (BHRRC, March 2025) · archived copy · ABC report linking Twinings to Sri Lankan estates with low wages, poor housing and child labour; Twinings' response
- Twinings' response to allegations of abuses in its tea supply chain (BHRRC, Feb 2023) · archived copy · Five Sri Lankan suppliers named in the wage challenge; Twinings uses the IDH Living Wages Roadmap and found a 7% average living wage gap in Sri Lanka (2021 data)
- BHRRC company page: Twinings (part of Associated British Foods) · archived copy · Lists Sri Lanka wage, Kenya sexual abuse and Sri Lanka certified estate stories; 3 response requests with 100% response rate
Last researched 8 October 2026 · details still being verified. Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Represent this company and think something is wrong? A right-of-reply form is coming soon.