Regular readers of our blog may remember that last week we awarded our first ever Supplier of the Year trophy to Kionyo, one of our key Kenyan suppliers. It was a great chance to show them our appreciation - not just for the quality of their tea and their commitment to achieving such high standards, but for their ongoing efforts working towards achieving independent certification from the Rainforest Alliance.

Right from the start, George and the rest of the team at Kionyo have shown real determination to bring all their farmers on the journey to certification. The same is true of Imenti, another key supplier for top quality Kenyan tea.

Our Head of Tea Ian explains: "Imenti and Kionyo process the tea picked by around 13,000 smallholder farmers around the Mount Kenya region in central Kenya, producing some of the country’s finest teas.

We helped to fund the training of all the smallholder farmers who supply teas to these factories. It started with around 50 ‘Lead Farmers’ being trained by Rainforest Alliance. These 50 then travelled around the area to explain the Sustainable Agricultural Standard to all 13,000 of their fellow farmers, covering off the safe use of fertilisers, re-cycling, tree planting, water management and good plucking standards."

This system is a great way to drive improvements, not just to environmental standards, but also to productivity and quality, which is an enormous advantage to each smallholder farmer.

"We're really impressed with the efforts that everyone at Kionyo and Imenti have gone to," adds Ian, "and we're all hoping to hear that they've successfully achieved Rainforest Alliance certification in the near future."