Taste and use

That is what makes this green tea from Kerala so special:

• Taste: Fine green tea with a slightly tart note.
• Quality features: Only the tips of the fresh tea shoots are picked. The organically grown tea is then delivered to our own processing center, where it is immediately heated to prevent fermentation. The tea leaves are then rolled and dried. The result is a fine green tea whose cultivation and processing is entirely in the hands of the small producers. 
• Use: Boil water and pour three teaspoons of green tea per liter into a pot. Pour some hot water over the tea and pour the water off again after a few seconds. Then pour the slightly cooled water (ideally 80°C) over the tea again and leave to infuse for approx. 2 minutes.

Cultivation and ecology

This is how green tea is grown:

• Cultivation method: Organic cultivation in combination with other crops. The Wayanad highlands are a traditional tea-growing region. Most of the tea is grown as a monoculture on large plantations and processed into green and black tea in the associated factories. The few small producers have to sell their tea to these same factories. As freshly harvested tea spoils quickly, they are dependent on the factories and the prices are correspondingly low.

• Producers: In 2018, 147 smallholders joined forces to form the Wayanad Green Tea Producer Company and opened their first own tea processing facility. The small-scale producers grow their tea organically and combine tea production with other crops, such as various types of pepper.

This is how the price is made up

The producers receive USD 3.10 per kilogram of fresh green tea leaves. We pay USD 40 per kilogram of green tea.

Cultivation & processing CHF 3.72

• Cultivation and harvesting: Wayanad Green Tea Producer Co. Ltd
• Processing and export: Elements Homestead Products

Transport & logistics CHF 2.21

• Export and logistics: Unilogistics
• Fees: Customs
• Quality assurance: SQTS laboratory
• Packaging: Zurich plant
• Shipping: Post

Procurement & distribution CHF 2.20

• Coordination, communication, online market: Crowd Container