Why We Invested: Young Mountain Tea
R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund Invests in the Supply Chain Supporting Small-Holder Tea Farmers in Northern India.
R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund is investing in Young Mountain Tea, a US tea company working to improve the livelihoods of small-holder tea farmers in the Kumaon region of northern India.
Young Mountain Tea (YMT) develops and markets premium tea for the growing specialty tea market, while supporting the regeneration of the farmlands in Kumaon and increasing the incomes of the tea farmers. Through YMT’s development and launch of Kumaon Tea, a tea company in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, a modern, tea processing facility will be owned by the tea farmers over time. 90% of Kumaon Tea farmers are women.
Most young men in the Kumaon mountain region migrate to cities, leaving women behind to look after their farmland and their families, including the in-laws. As a result, once-rich farmland lays fallow, becoming dangerously fragile and prone to landslides during the monsoon season. Yet some hillsides are still dotted with 150-year-old tea bushes from tea gardens abandoned by the British in the 1920’s.
“We work with Himalayan farmers to help improve the quality of their tea, so they can improve the quality of their lives,” said Raj Vable, CEO and founder of YMT. “But ultimately, we’re trying to create systems change. We want to upend the tea estate model which is a legacy of British colonial rule. The estate model excludes the farmers from ownership and the profits that come from processing, and delivers tea at the lowest cost possible. We believe there is space for a new model, one in which farmers are the owners and quality is more important than quantity.”
More than 90% of Kumaon Tea farmers are women.© 2024 Young Mountain Tea
“As the global market for specialty tea grows, there is an opportunity for farmers to earn more through better quality teas, if they own the factories processing their tea,” he explained.
Tea processing is the most lucrative step in tea’s value chain. Inside a tea factory, the value of the harvested tea leaf increases 20 to 40 times. Historically, tea farmers have lacked the capital, technical expertise, and market access to launch their own factories.
Tea processing is the most lucrative step in tea’s value chain. Inside a tea factory, the value of the harvested tea leaf increases 20 to 40 times. © 2024 Young Mountain Tea
YMT purchases high quality Indian and Nepali tea to sell both to US wholesale buyers as bulk or private labeled tea, as well as under its own label to consumers through www.youngmountaintea.com, its sales channel on Amazon, and its relationship with Frontier Co-op.
To ensure a supply of Kumaon tea that meets the food safety requirements of international markets, and to advance its mission to improve the farmers’ livelihoods, YMT began the project to set up a modern tea processing facility to produce single-origin, high elevation, small batch tea in 2020, and secured the first round of funding in 2021. Through this processing facility, farmers can earn five times the commodity rates for their harvest.
“Prior to this project with Young Mountain Tea, farmers in this community didn’t have an ownership stake, “said Tony Bedard, CEO of Frontier Co-op. “And so, the culmination of all these efforts will benefit roughly 500 farmers who over time will collectively own the entire processing facility.”
Through the development of Kumaon Tea, a tea company in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, a modern, tea processing facility will be owned by the tea farmers. © 2024 Young Mountain Tea.
With Kumaon Tea, farmers own the land as well as the factory, and they are being taught how to build a successful business, paving the way for their future financial autonomy. The farmers are also taught regenerative farming practices – from no-till practices to understanding soil health – in order to ensure the viability of the region’s farmland for generations to come.
Founder, Raj Vable, sharing a cup of tea with Kumaon Tea farmers. With next year’s growing season, U.S. buyers will be able to purchase Kumaon Tea’s organic teas. © 2024 Young Mountain Tea
The project has received funding from local and international partners, including the USAID Cooperative Development Program, Frontier Co-op, Acumen, Young Mountain Tea, and Desmond Birkbeck, a multi-generational Kumaon tea farmer who has been the project’s primary on-the-ground champion and investor.
As a result of these funding partnerships, Kumaon Tea was able to break ground on its tea factory earlier this year. In May the tea factory – the first in the region to be farmer-owned – had its ribbon-cutting ceremony. With next year’s growing season, U.S. grocery stores, specialty tea shops, restaurants, cafés and other potential buyers will be able to purchase Kumaon Tea’s organic black, white and green teas for sale to their customers.
“Even though tea is the most consumed beverage in the world, second only to water, there are lots of concerns about its future due to labor challenges, the detrimental long-term impacts of climate change and complicated global market dynamics,” said Vable. “We hope our model serves as a blueprint that can be replicated and improved upon, so we can all collectively raise the bar on transparent sourcing, regenerative agriculture, and smallholder farmer equity.”
An initiative of Sprout Enterprise®, the R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund invests in artisan enterprises creating sustainable livelihoods for rural communities with few economic alternatives. Women’s empowerment, sustainability and clean energy innovation are key investment themes of the fund.
Named as one of the Transformative 25 Funds in 2022 and 2021, R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund has been recognized by Integrated Capital Investing for transforming finance to benefit people and the planet.
For more information, please contact us or visit:
Young Mountain Tea www.youngmountaintea.com
Kumaon Tea www.kumaontea.org
R.I.S.E. Artisan Fund www.riseartisan.fund
Sprout Enterprise® www.sproutenterprise.net
