Traditional Medicinals Introduces Non-GMO Project Verified Tea Bags

Traditional Medicinals is now using 100 percent compostable, Non-GMO Project Verified tea bags and strings, and FSC-certified tea tags. For over three decades, Traditional Medicinals’ tea bags have been made from sustainably harvested abacá leaf fiber, grown in the Philippines by cooperatives of small-production family farmers. Through an exclusive partnership, the company has recently added Non-GMO Project Verified organic cotton strings.

Traditional Medicinals has embraced sustainability, ingredient quality, and social and environmental activism for 42 years. With a business model dependent on a reliable supply chain of ever-increasing quantities of unique and high-quality medicinal plants, the company has discovered that trusting, long-term and equitable trade relationships can empower rural or indigenous supply communities to become sustainable, economically viable and self-reliant, company officials say. 

In 2009, Traditional Medicinals launched the Revive! Project to reduce poverty and remove the barriers to community empowerment through organic agriculture in farming communities that cultivate senna, the herb used in the company’s Smooth Move teas. With the help of several partners, including the Traditional Medicinals Foundation, WomenServe, Umalaxmi and Martin Bauer, the Revive! Project implemented several initiatives, including community organization and development, water and food security, health and hygiene services, and improved access to education. With more than $1 million in contributions to-date, the Revive! Project partners have been instrumental in providing opportunity and hope by:

·  Constructing five schools, with 950 local children now attending.

·  Donating over 350 bicycles to give more children—particularly girls—access to the schools from distant desert villages.

·  Constructing 365 underground rainwater catchments, called taankas, providing water security for thousands of villagers.

“At Traditional Medicinals, we believe that our business can only thrive when every stakeholder benefits: the farmers and collectors in our sourcing communities, our employees, and our customers,” says Blair Kellison, chief executive officer at Traditional Medicinals. “It’s inspiring to see these local communities flourish when they are given the tools and resources they need to succeed.”

In the hope of inspiring and educating others through the impact of the company’s social business model and practices, the company documented several Revive! Project initiatives. Watch "When She Catches Rain" and "When She Has a Bike" to learn about how the Revive! Project is helping transform lives.

Developed under the Sustainable Food Trade Association guidelines and California Benefit Corporation public reporting requirements, Traditional Medicinals’ 2015 sustainability report highlights include:

·  Maintained the Non-GMO Project Verified percentage of its herbal tea products at 100 percent.

·  Purchased 150,000 pounds more of organic herbs in 2015 than in 2014.

·  Contributed more than $300,000 to nonprofit organizations, from funding the Revive! Project® (in partnership with Traditional Medicinals Foundation) to supporting Whole Planet Foundation, FairWild Foundation and beyond.

·  Sourced and bought nearly 250,000 pounds of FairWild herbs—up 35% from last year, thanks to strong-selling herbal teas like Throat Coat® Lemon Echinacea (with FairWild licorice root) and Raspberry Leaf.

·  Used 100 percent local, renewable power for company facilities, both from its own solar array and from a geothermal complex in the mountains north of the headquarters in Sonoma County.

·  Implemented third-party logistics to reduce the number of trucks leaving the factory from 2,880 per year to 240, thereby reducing carbon footprint.

For an in-depth look at Traditional Medicinals’ sustainability commitment, visit the 2015 Traditional Medicinals Sustainability and Benefit Corporation Annual Report.