Buying Policy

Whittard is in the enviable position of having established some super contacts with tea and coffee growers over the years. We need to support our suppliers, many of whom we know personally.

Giles Hilton, our Tea and Coffee Guru is forever on the move, visiting suppliers to study new production techniques, check the effect of climatic change on the crops, and advise them of our customers' changing tastes. Recent trips were also organised for staff to visit our suppliers and stay on the estates of the best producers in Sri Lanka, Darjeeling and Kenya.

Whittard's job is to supply the best Tea and Coffee available and most of our products come from a select few excellent gardens. We realise that we must not only pay for this quality, but also work with, and support our suppliers. We don't only give individual suppliers confidence by buying their harvest, we also contribute to their own programmes for welfare and education.

We always negotiate sensible prices for the best quality, and often make separate contributions to their hospitals and primary schools. In Darjeeling we have recently contributed to Margaret's Hope and Badamtam Estate hospitals, in Sri Lanka to Strathspey's day-care centre and school. We operate our own "Fair to Farmers" coffee buying policy.

Much of our coffee and teas are now 'Single Estate': from just one grower or co-operative of farmers in each region. We can therefore support the community directly, by fixing realistic prices with them and ignoring the currently very low world market price.