ANAHEIM, Calif., March 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Numi Organic Tea, an award-winning social enterprise, founding B Corporation member, and a leading purchaser of organic, Fair Trade Certified™ teas, announced today a new Carbon Footprint Label, which will be included on all of its tea boxes beginning in the first half of 2022. The new label is the first of its kind among U.S. tea producers and breaks down each product’s emissions into four categories – ingredients, packaging, transport and preparation – so that consumers can easily understand the carbon impact of their tea purchases.
"Numi’s new Carbon Footprint Label is our commitment to the planet and we believe it’s vital to share our carbon number with consumers," said Reem Hassani, Chief Brand Officer & Co-Founder of Numi. “We hope this big step for sustainability encourages other brands to follow our lead and commit to sharing their carbon footprint. The more of us that join this movement, the more context consumers will have when considering the environmental impact of their daily habits. Consumers are looking for a way to take action against climate change and we want to empower them with the information they need to do that.”
Numi worked with Planet FWD, the leading carbon management platform for consumer brands, to estimate an average product carbon footprint for all its teas and botanical products. In doing the study, Numi discovered that nearly half of a tea bag’s carbon footprint (46%) comes from boiling water. Consumers can reduce emissions by using an electric tea kettle, boiling only the amount of water they need, and opting for clean energy sources where available. Numi also found that its tea is preferable to coffee when it comes to carbon impact. The carbon footprint of a cup of Numi tea is 86% lower than a cup of conventional espresso and 37% lower than a cup of sustainably produced espresso.1
Numi is a Climate Neutral Certified company, which means it measures, reduces and offsets 100% of annual Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. To identify the best opportunities for reduction, Numi uses its greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory to prioritize action based on the greatest emissions sources throughout the supply chain. Numi’s tea is carbon negative at the farm level because of regenerative practices like no-till farming, cover cropping, perennial planting, and agroforestry. From working with producers to explore renewable energy options to reducing corrugate in shipping to using plant-based packaging, Numi continuously works to reduce operational emissions across the lifecycle of a Numi teabag. And now consumers can have a view into the impact that work is having on the company’s GHG emissions and the “carbon cost” for a cup of tea.
For the last 10 years, Numi has worked with CarbonFund to offset 10,191 metric tonnes of CO2e from business operations. Since 2018, it has purchased credits from the Envira Amazonia project in Brazil, which supports a transition in land ownership to local communities and establishes alternatives to cattle ranching. Funding from the carbon offsets supports education, livelihood diversification and a health clinic. The project has protected nearly 500,000 acres of tropical rainforest to date.
Numi has an ongoing commitment to fighting climate change and reducing plastic waste. Numi uses tea bags made from biodegradable, unbleached Manila hemp fiber — not plastic — and is the only tea company to offer a compostable wrapper for its tea bags, which keeps tea fresh while displacing the consumption of 14.3 metric tonnes of virgin plastic annually. Additionally, Numi provides fair wages and opportunities for tea farmers around the world, with over 14,000 people positively impacted by its Fair Trade and Fair Labor programs. Numi’s efforts (and sales) support Together for H2OPE, a program that provides tea farming communities around the world with access to clean, safe drinking water.
Numi announced its new Carbon Footprint Label at Natural Products Expo West 2022. Be one of the first to see the new carbon footprint label by visiting Numi at booth N1645. Join Numi Vice President, Strategic Sourcing & Sustainability Jane Franch on Thursday, March 10 at 3 pm where she will be discussing Packaging Policies for the Future.
Numi is available for purchase on their website www.numitea.com, Amazon, Whole Foods and more. To learn more about Numi’s Carbon Footprint Label, visit numitea.com/climate.
1Nab, C, Maslin, M. Life cycle assessment synthesis of the carbon footprint of Arabica coffee. Geo: Geography and Environment. 2020; 7:e96. https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.96
ABOUT NUMI ORGANIC TEA
Founded in 1999 by brother and sister Ahmed Rahim and Reem Hassani, Numi Organic Tea is an award-winning social enterprise, founding B Corp, and leading purchaser of organic, Fair Trade Certified™ teas distributed in more than 50 countries. Still family-owned and headquartered in Oakland, California, Numi supports community development projects both locally and internationally. To date, Numi has contributed more than $1 million in Fair Trade Premiums for tea farmers. Numi’s Fair Trade and Fair Labor commitments have helped sponsor schools, hospitals, community centers, road construction and other improvements for living standards in its tea-growing communities. Through plant-based, compostable and sustainable packaging, Carbon Neutral certification, and regenerative organic agriculture, Numi strives to create lasting positive impact for the planet and each other. To learn more, visit NumiTea.com.
Contact:
Molly Antos
Numi Public Relations
numi-pr@dadascope.com
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