James Finlay Kenya Ltd

About the Company

Overview

Established over 250 years ago, Finlays originated in Glasgow as a trader and manufacturer of cotton. During the second half of the 19th century, representatives were sent to India to plant tea and Finlays played an important role in the development of the industry there. Later, during the 1930s, the company expanded its tea business into Africa, establishing estates and production facilities which continue to form a major part of our business today. Finlays pioneered instant tea research, development and production in the 1960s, when the industry was still in its infancy.

Towards the end of the 20th century, cotton interests were replaced by financial services, onshore and offshore oil services, and a wide range of other businesses. By the early 1990s, however, we had reverted to concentrating on core tea and tea-related activities and we are today, an international company, principally focused on tea, although recent expansion has seen us move into rubber, flowers and fresh produce in Africa, Sri Lanka and China. As contemporary drinking patterns change and the enormous potential of tea as a healthy ingredient in other products is developed, we are at the forefront of producing and marketing tea extracts and aromas in addition to more traditional forms of processing. This is highlighted by significant recent investments in China and Kenya.

Environmental activities

Sustainability
The traditional interpretation of CSR has now broadened and is better defined today by the term “Sustainable Development.” This covers the range of environmental, social and economic challenges we need to embrace to ensure that our current developments are not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. (This is the basic definition of sustainable development taken from the Brundtland Report.

In recent years, the prominence of these issues has rightly been raised. The variety and complexity of the challenges our whole planet faces, particularly aggravated by likely climate change, population growth and water scarcity, obligate us to look at our response with greater urgency and analysis:

In practice this means:

•Continually challenging how we work with the environment, our people and our communities, and scrutinising day to day business decisions to make sure that we are accounting for long-term sustainability and not simply short-term profit;
•Being responsible and proactive members of the wider community on key issues that affect sustainable development, such as climate change or deforestation;
•Regularly working with all parties who affect, or can be affected by the company’s actions so that we understand and are sensitive to their views and requirements;
•Ensuring that we comply with a range of industry and international standards;
We know that there remains much that we can still improve upon and we, like all businesses, will face some difficult and complex issues in the years ahead. However in tackling these issues we are committed to a series of principles:

•Transparency and accountability. Today we are already audited by numerous accreditation bodies and many of our products are Fairtrade accredited;
•Quantifying and being accountable for the full social and environmental costs of our activities. We have a detailed programme underway measuring our carbon footprint as well as numerous other measures utilising the triple bottom line methodology;
•Giving the environment, society and our own economic development equal footing in our strategic planning;
•Continually innovating in our efforts to reduce our resource consumption per unit of our production; and 
•In our areas of expertise, promoting good practice in the community, amongst our peers and throughout our supply chain.

Climate Change

We clearly recognise the challenge facing our business, people and communities through climate change.

We have launched a detailed and exhaustive exercise to measure our own carbon footprint, and to minimize it, through applying cleaner technology, managing our resource use and minimizing any negative effects on the environment generally. We work with other companies and organizations, at both a local and international level, in pursuit of these aims.

In addition to minimising our own footprint, we are committing to actively educate our own employees and the broader communities within which we work, on the risks presented by climate change and the methods we can collectively consider to minimise our greenhouse gas emissions.

Our Certification Standards

Fairtrade

We are an active supporter of Fairtrade with registered producers in flowers and tea. Our trading, processing and packing businesses are registered licensees, giving our customers and consumers a complete Fairtrade supply chain.

All producers who supply Fairtrade products are inspected and certified by FLO-cert. They receive a minimum price to cover the cost of sustainable production as well as an extra premium that is invested in social or economic development projects.

Products traded under fair-trade conditions and standards are labelled with a Fairtrade Mark to guarantee that producers are getting a fair deal.

Rainforest Alliance

Rainforest Alliance certification comprehensively addresses the environmental, social and economic challenges faced by farmers and their communities. The programme which is global in reach and is run by a coalition of non-profit organizations committed to conservation and social justice, currently certifies over 20 different crops including our tea in Sri Lanka.

For consumers, the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal guarantees that a product comes from sustainably managed farms or forests.

Rainforest Alliance Certification:

• Protects forestlands, conserves wildlife habitat, requires reforestation and provides climate benefits.
• Ensures good conditions and decent wages for farm workers and access to education, healthcare and respectable housing for them and their families.
• Helps farmers better manage their land, control costs, improve crop quality and, often, increase their yields.
• Was developed on farms in the tropics and employs local auditors.
• Is driven by its mission to conserve natural resources and promote sustainable livelihoods.

Certifications

We are committed to working with customers to ensure that we have, and maintain, the highest qualities and standards in our operations.

Our producer sites are subject to a range of ethical and environmental audits such as Fairtrade Labelling Organisation-Cert (FLO-Cert), Kenya Flower Council (KFC) – Gold Standard, EurepGap, which develops standards for the global certification of good agricultural practices, and the Ethical Tea Partnership as well as specific customer-related audits.

Our Beverages business in the UK is a founding member of the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) and is also an active member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), which promotes international labour standards in the supply chain.

On product stewardship, our sites have Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems to ensure high standards of food safety and we are active members of industry regulatory bodies advising on product standards and promoting product safety.

Contact Information