Tea
In India, Sri Lanka and Kenya, much of the world's tea is picked on large estates where workers live in estate housing and rely on the estate for water, healthcare and schools as well as wages.
₹280
a day, the minimum wage for tea garden workers in Assam's Brahmaputra Valley from April 2026
50%
of the Assam tea workers' households Oxfam visited held government ration cards for families below the poverty line
SourceOxfam (2019): Addressing the human cost of Assam tea (opens in a new tab)
70+
women told the BBC they were sexually abused by managers on Kenyan tea plantations run by Unilever and James Finlay
How the 92 brands we've graded split
The industry at a glance
China grew nearly half the world's tea in 2022 and India about a fifth, followed by Kenya and Sri Lanka. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2024: Current global market situation and medium-term outlook (Intergovernmental Group on Tea, CCP:TE/24/2) (opens in a new tab))
Tea is plucked by hand, usually two leaves and a bud at a time, then withered, rolled and dried in a factory on or near the estate. Most is sold at auction and blended, so the box rarely says which estate it came from.
Labour Lens grades tea on where it's grown, and asks whether the company names its tea gardens and shows what their workers are paid.
On the record
- The April 2026 rise in Assam was an interim ₹30 a day in both of its tea regions: from ₹250 to ₹280 in the Brahmaputra Valley and from ₹228 to ₹258 in the Barak Valley. (Outlook Business, 2026: Hike in Assam tea garden workers' daily wage by ₹30 from Apr 1 (opens in a new tab))
- On Assam's estates, women do most of the lowest-paid plucking work and most of the unpaid care work at home. (Oxfam, 2019: Addressing the human cost of Assam tea (opens in a new tab))
- After the BBC's 2023 investigation, four managers were suspended and Kenya's parliament opened an inquiry. (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2023: Kenya to investigate sex-for-work exposed in BBC tea documentary (opens in a new tab))
- The US Department of Labor lists 1 resource in this industry from 7 countries as made with child or forced labour. See the list
Along the supply chain
Estates in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya, and smaller farms in China and Kenya
What happens here
Pluckers, mostly women, are paid a daily rate set by the state or an industry agreement, and usually live in estate housing, so losing the job can mean losing their home.
What we check
Whether the company names its tea gardens, has them independently audited and shows what their workers are paid.
Factories on or near the estate
What happens here
Leaves are withered, rolled and dried within hours of picking, in factories that run long shifts in the harvest season.
What we check
Covered by the same audits as the garden when the company names them.
Auctions in Kolkata, Guwahati, Colombo and Mombasa, and blending companies
What happens here
Tea from many gardens is sold at auction and blended, which makes the gardens behind a box hard to trace.
What we check
Single-estate tea is easier to trace, but only counts when the company names the estate.
Brands and supermarkets
What happens here
The brand decides whether to buy certified tea, name its gardens and pay above the auction price.
What we check
Fairtrade, WFTO and direct trade with published prices count strongly. Rainforest Alliance alone doesn't show a living wage.
Resources on the US Department of Labor's list
The list names resources and the countries where the Department found child labour or forced labour in producing them. It covers whole countries, not companies.
1 resource shown
| Resource | Child labour | Forced labour |
|---|---|---|
| Tea | Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam | India |
What earns each grade
Good
8 of 92 brands
- Fairtrade certified tea across its range
- Direct trade with named gardens, with the prices it pays published
- Or a WFTO Guaranteed Fair Trade business
For example Trade Aid, Daintree Tea, Numi Organic Tea · See all 8
On Track
0 of 92 brands
- Names its tea gardens, has them independently audited and has a public plan to pay a living wage within five years
- Proves a living wage on some of its gardens but not yet all of them
- Blended tea from estates it doesn't name, so it's graded on conditions in India, Sri Lanka and Kenya
- Rainforest Alliance alone, with no evidence on wages
- Single-estate claims with no wage evidence or independent audit
For example Ito En, English Tea Shop, VAHDAM India · See all 73
- Forced labour, abuse of workers or unpaid wages found on estates supplying it, in the last five years, that it hasn't put right
For example Brooke Bond, Lipton, Lyons Tea · See all 11
Signs of a fair supply chain
- The Fairtrade mark, or WFTO membership
- Named tea gardens or co-operatives
- Published wages compared with a living wage
Warning signs
- "Ethically sourced" with no estates named
- Rainforest Alliance alone, with nothing on wages
- Wages described only as "above the legal minimum"
Try the rules
Pick an example or tick what a company can show, and see the grade the rules would give it.
The grade it would get
Grade: Lacks transparency
This company gets its tea from India, where unions are heavily restricted. Workers in India are very unlikely to earn a living wage, and it has no full independent audit.
Good requirements 1 of 5
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certification
- Not met: Respects worker rights
- 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 2
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Hidden supply chain, mostly in countries with poor worker rights
A made-up company, graded by the same rules as every brand on Labour Lens. What Lacks transparency means
The full rules are on the Grading page, with the finer points on Resources.
The brands we've graded
Where their tea is grown
78 of the 92 brands say where their tea is grown. The countries they name most:
| Country | Brands | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | 53 | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | High |
| Sri Lanka | 42 | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| China | 33 | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| Kenya | 27 | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Japan | 16 | Strong protections | Close to a living wage | Low |
| Malawi | 15 | Strong protections | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| Taiwan | 12 | Strong protections | Close to a living wage | Low |
| Indonesia | 11 | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Good tea brands
Questions and answers
6 questions
Is single-estate tea more ethical?
It's easier to trace, because you know which estate it came from. That doesn't say how the estate treats its workers.
On Labour Lens, naming the estate helps, but a brand still needs evidence on wages and an independent audit to reach On Track or Good.
Does Fairtrade tea mean a living wage for pluckers?
Not always. Fairtrade sets a minimum price, pays a premium that a committee of the estate's workers decides how to spend, and audits for child and forced labour. It doesn't guarantee a living wage.
Labour Lens counts it as a strong fair-pay scheme, so Fairtrade tea can be Good.
How much do tea pluckers earn?
Pay is set by state governments or industry agreements. In Assam, the daily minimum for tea workers rose to ₹280 in the Brahmaputra Valley from April 2026.
Oxfam's research in Assam (opens in a new tab) found half the worker households it visited relied on government ration cards for families below the poverty line.
What does Rainforest Alliance mean for tea?
Estates are audited against its standard, which includes rules on child and forced labour. It sets no minimum price and doesn't require a living wage, so on its own it doesn't show that pluckers are paid enough to live on.
Why is tea graded on where it's grown, not where it's packed?
Because the people most at risk are the ones growing and picking it. Like coffee and cocoa, tea is recorded where it's grown, so a tea packed in Australia is graded on the gardens in India, Sri Lanka or Kenya it came from.
Are tea bags and loose-leaf tea graded the same way?
Yes. Labour Lens grades the tea itself, on where it's grown and how it's bought, whatever form it's sold in.
Sources
- Current global market situation and medium-term outlook (Intergovernmental Group on Tea, CCP:TE/24/2) (opens in a new tab) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2024
- Hike in Assam tea garden workers' daily wage by ₹30 from Apr 1 (opens in a new tab) Outlook Business, 2026
- Addressing the human cost of Assam tea (opens in a new tab) Oxfam, 2019
- Kenya to investigate sex-for-work exposed in BBC tea documentary (opens in a new tab) Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2023
- List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (opens in a new tab) US Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), 2024
Figures are as each source published them. The grades and brand counts are Labour Lens's own, from the brands we've researched.
Know a tea brand we haven't graded?
Ask us to research it