Numi Organic Tea has introduced Fair Labor Practices (FLP), a verification program focused on improved labor and workplace conditions throughout Numi’s foreign supply chain.
The FLP program is designed to verify the agricultural and social standards of any agricultural supply chain, with annual third-party audits conducted by SCS Global Services or other authorized verification bodies. Numi said its program is unique in several ways:
- Environmental Compliance: Organic certification is a prerequisite for participation.
- Entire Supply Chain: Each player within the supply chain is audited, providing end-to-end transparency and verification.
- Continuous Improvement: Requires continuous improvement, rather than simple pass-fail scoring.
- Direct Partnerships: Encourages companies to assume a direct role in the social development of their supply chain.
- Complementary to Fair Trade Certification: Applicable to individual products or entire supply chains, so brands can verify the portions of their supply chain not covered by fair trade (shipping, packaging).
Numi has required compliance based on the FLP program throughout multiple Chinese supply chain partners for more than four years. By the end of 2013, all six organic pu-erh tea blends, the Indulgent Pu-erh Tea Collection gift set, High Mountain Black Brewed Iced Tea and Chinese Breakfast Tea will be verified under the program.
“Fair Labor Practices is our guidebook for continuous improvement,” said Brian Durkee, VP of operations. “We take great care in developing meaningful relationships with our suppliers, and this program helps us accomplish that.”
The Fair Labor Practices standard was developed by Numi and SCS Global Services (SCS) in 2007. With the program under Numi’s ownership, SCS will continue to provide third-party compliance auditing services and work jointly on an update to the standard. In addition to expanding the program within its own supply chain, Numi said it intends to offer the social responsibility label to brands across multiple categories through the Numi Foundation.
