Zoetic
Good. Shows the people who make its products are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 2 November 2026 · 7 sources
Melbourne company's organic tea range.
Zoetic labels most of its tea as grown in India, Sri Lanka and Egypt.
Also worth knowing
Its tea is Fairtrade certified, which comes with a minimum price for farmers and audits for child and forced labour.
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Why it's graded Good
- Met: Meets all 5 Good requirements.
- Met: No red flags.
- Met: Earns 3 stars for going above and beyond.
| Star | Awarded for | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Finds and fixes problems, or invests in communities | Earned | |
| Pays above a living wage | Not earned | |
| Gives workers a real voice | Not earned | |
| Open supply chain | Not earned |
3 stars for the first way it goes above and beyond, and one more for each further way, up to 6. About stars
Good requirements 5 of 5
- Met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: strong fair-pay scheme (Fairtrade)
- Met: Respects worker rights
- 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
- Met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that listFully certified by Fairtrade, which holds and audits the list of farms. Zoetic doesn't publish its own.
Red flags 0
None found.
Accreditations 2
Estimates for its products
Our rules applied to one kind of product at a time, using Zoetic's evidence and, where it has product lines, that line's countries. They're estimates: we don't know which factory made any single item.
Tea: Good, the same as Zoetic overall, because nothing we know differs between them.
Holding one? Scan its barcode for an estimate that uses its care label or ingredients.
Where its tea is grown
From product labels; Zoetic doesn't say where its tea is grown. The rest is shown as where tea is usually grown.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | High |
| Sri Lanka | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Egypt | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| KenyaUsual 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). (partly offset by certification or direct sourcing) Source
- Invests in worker and farming communities
Research notes Zoetic, a sister brand of Melbourne's SereniTEA, says all its sourced teas are 100% Fairtrade certified and all blends organic; packs show 85% to 100% Fairtrade content, so estate workers get Fairtrade protections and a premium for a workers' fund. Product labels name Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Assam (India) teas and Egyptian peppermint and chamomile, with no split by country. It names no estates and publishes no supplier list, wage data or modern slavery statement. Tea from India is on the US forced labour list, and the Fairtrade minimum price does not guarantee a living wage.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Fairtrade (incl. FLOCERT and Fairtrade ANZ) | Certified | The Zoetic and SereniTEA range is sold with the Fairtrade mark, with 85% to 100% Fairtrade content per product. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | Tea from India, the origin of the Assam leaf in Zoetic's black teas, is on the 2024 US Department of Labor list for forced labour; Sri Lankan tea is not listed. View |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Not covered | No modern slavery statement found; the company is likely below the A$100m reporting threshold. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Not listed | No allegations naming Zoetic or SereniTEA were found. View |
Sources and actions
Sources 7
Show all 7 sources
- 2024 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor - US DOL · search the archive · Tea from India listed for forced labour; Sri Lankan tea not listed.
- SereniTEA and Zoetic supplier spotlight - Honest to Goodness · search the archive · Australian-owned; founded in Melbourne in 2009; Zoetic range certified organic and Fairtrade.
- Zoetic organic English Breakfast tea bags - Honest to Goodness · search the archive · 100% Fairtrade and organic; blend of Assam (India) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) teas.
- Zoetic organic Earl Grey tea bags - Honest to Goodness · search the archive · 98% Fairtrade; country of origin Sri Lanka.
- Zoetic organic chai tea bags - Honest to Goodness · search the archive · 85% Fairtrade; Assam black tea from India with spices from several countries.
- Zoetic organic peppermint tea bags - Honest to Goodness · search the archive · 100% Fairtrade and organic; peppermint a product of Egypt.
Published by Zoetic or its owner
- Organic & Fairtrade - SereniTEA · search the archive · All sourced teas 100% Fairtrade and all blends organic; Fairtrade premium goes to a workers' fund; no origins named.
Company details
- Owned by
- SereniTEA
- Headquarters
- Australia
- Last researched
- 2 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Zoetic ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/zoetic, last researched 2 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Good means
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Zoetic.