Our tea team works with growers all over the world to find the perfect ingredient for every single blend. Sometimes they get lucky and find ingredients that not only taste great, but make a positive impact on the people and wildlife in the region. Sweet Potato Pie tea is one of those stories.
Last year, the team was developing something new. They wanted to recreate the sweet yet savoury goodness of a Sweet Potato Pie, the Thanksgiving staple that’s been a quintessential part of family get-togethers since the 18th century. And after a bit of trial and error, they finally cracked the recipe. Made with sweet potato, warming nutmeg, woody cinnamon and velvety marshmallows, it tastes of the holidays.
But none of these ingredients would taste as rich or complex if they didn’t have a strong tea base. And this blend has one of the very best: an Elephant Approved® black tea from India.
Elephant Approved® is a conservation organization that promotes peaceful coexistence of humans and animals in tea-producing regions. It’s estimated that there are numerous elephants and human fatalities every year due to the Human Elephant Conflict. By working with Elephant Approved® we were helped to enable the launch of this project – and we couldn’t be prouder.
Deforestation due to agriculture is one the forces changing the landscape of the fertile, tropical climates that also happen to be an elephant’s natural habitat. By altering their natural habitat, deforestation forces migrating elephants into human communities.
| Asian Elephants, found throughout India and Southeast Asia, are currently the most at risk and are facing extinction. Elephant Approved® wants to improve the safety of both the animals and tea workers by helping to create free migratory passages for the animals. In creating these passages, they’re also creating safer working and living conditions for the workers and their families. To make this happen, the team behind Elephant Approved® reward tea estates that have sustainable farming practices with an emphasis on elephant conservation programs. They also collaborate with governments and NGOs on wildlife conservation projects. Programs like these require the cooperation of the estates and workers alike. Making migratory paths safer involves the installation of elephant warning systems, the monitoring and recording of wildlife activity to make sure the passages remain open to the animals. In addition to safeguarding the area for elephants, there’s a concerted effort to educate and empower tea workers. Elephant Approved offers sensitivity training for employee and programs that teach employees how to monitor elephant movement and warn the local community. Of course, none of this would be possible without your support. When you brew up a cup of Sweet Potato Pie, you know you’re doing more than just a little indulging, you’re making tea farming safer – for the animals and the people. |
