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The Sustainable Spices Initiative

We are thrilled to announce that we are now members of The Sustainable Spices Initiative (SSI).

The SSI is a sector-wide consortium hosted by IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative and founded in 2012, which brings together an international group of companies including processors, brands and producers, active within the spices and herbs sector, and NGOs to transform the sector sustainably.  

Members of SSI make the commitment to source their products sustainably and to make a positive impact on their value chains.

At Twinings, we source over 150 herbs and spices from all over the world which go into our delicious blends and infusions, from calming camomile in Egypt to warming cinnamon in Indonesia.

Over the past few years, we have been working hard to integrate our herbal supply chain in to our Sourced with Care programme by increasing sourcing of certified herbs, conducting TCNA to better understand conditions on the ground, and establishing projects to tackle key issues in our herbal supply chain in Guatemala and South Africa.

By joining the SSI we hope to collaborate to achieve lasting transformational change in the communities from which we source, help tackling sustainability issues including climate, child labour and living income.

Current spices of interest within the SSI platform include ginger, turmeric, cardamom and cinnamon, and we hope to encourage others in the herbal infusions sector to join as well in order to bring even more herbs into focus, such as peppermint and liquorice for example.

"We know we’re only on part of the solution to driving for improved working conditions and quality of life for communities in our supply chains. That’s why we work in partnership with others to catalyse change. We are really looking forward to the knowledge sharing and learning opportunities our membership with SSI will bring."
Gabriella Wass, Social Impact Manager, Human Rights Specialist, Twinings.

We are really excited to see where our membership takes us.
Click here for more information on The Sustainable Spices Initiative.

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