Farmers First Hand voted runner up at Guardian Sustainable Business Awards

30 May 2012 672 words 3-MINUTE READ

Corporate

The Farmers First Hand initiative has been voted Runner Up for Communicating Sustainability at the Guardian Sustainable Business Awards at a ceremony in London. Farmers First Hand is a unique social media driven communications campaign that connects tea drinkers with tea producers around the world. Utilising Facebook, Farmers First Hand enables consumers to communicate directly with tea producers and other stakeholders involved in the Rainforest Alliance certification programme, providing them with valuable insight into tea production and the positive impact of certification on farming and community life, as well as increasing understanding and interest in sustainability issues in a way that is relevant and appealing to the mainstream consumer.

A high profile and influential panel of sustainability experts nominated Farmers First Hand as a runner up in the Communicating Sustainability Category. Farmers First Hand was conceived and launched in support of the business’ commitment to source 100% of the tea for its Tetley brand from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms by 2016. Tata Global Beverages’ collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance represents its first major sustainability initiative as it implements its strategy and the first major step on Tata Global Beverages’ journey to becoming a more sustainable business.

Ria Kearney, sustainability manager at Tata Global Beverages, said:

“Farmers First Hand is all about connection through conversation; audience involvement and participation is central to the Farmers First Hand concept. The project evolved from the idea of enabling direct contact between consumers and producers, allowing them to have a dialogue and an interaction that previously hadn’t been possible or attempted. We realise that our consumers increasingly want to know where and how their tea has been grown and who has grown and produced it; rather than telling consumers ourselves, we wanted to give them a chance to hear this first hand from some of the producers who grow and pick the tea that they drink daily.”

Farmers First Hand uses a dedicated page on the social networking site Facebook as the principal communication channel. The team recruited a group of smallholder farmers and estate workers in Malawi (and more recently South Africa) working towards Rainforest Alliance certification to form the Farmers First Hand panel. The panel use phones to send daily updates via text message which are then uploaded to the Facebook page. Consumers, or Facebook “fans” of the page, can then make comments and ask questions which are in turn sent back to the farmers for their response, enabling conversations on various topics. Topics range from aspects of daily life such as meal times and work to family and social life as well as community and cultural events. Photos and video are also posted on to the Facebook page. The farmers’ content is also interspersed with content developed by Tetley/TGB, such as polls and competitions. You can visit the page here

As well as giving consumers an insight into daily life in and around a tea estate, Farmers First Hand also allows them to experience a smallholder or estate worker’s journey towards achieving and maintaining certification, increasing their understanding of tea sourcing and sustainability issues whilst also giving meaning to the certification seal they see on the front of Tetley packs. As a result of this increased engagement and understanding, consumers are inspired to chat to the Farmers First Hand farmers and share content with their Facebook friends, to look for and purchase products that have been

sustainability sourced and to encourage their friends and families to do the same.

Shaun Wynne-Jones, social media manager at Tata Global Beverages, said:

“With more and more brands working with the Rainforest Alliance and other certification schemes, we wanted to find a unique way of communicating our collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance and our commitment to ethical sourcing to our consumers. Rather than developing a traditional communications campaign using print, pack and online adverts (that are limited to one way communication), we set out to bring to life the image of the smiling farmer normally seen within brand communications when it comes to ethical sourcing and certification. By using mobile phone technology and social media we have been able to provide direct contact between a group of tea producers and estate workers and consumers around the world.”

Farmers First Hand has enabled the Tetley brand to differentiate itself from other brands working with the Rainforest Alliance in a way that is both relevant and appealing for the brand and its consumers. Since launching in February 2011, the Farmers First Hand facebook page now has over 23000 fans and continues to grow daily. The Facebook page is also supported by on pack copy, web copy and customer communications.

To read more about the Guardian Sustainability Awards please visit