Twinings

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Twinings
Twinings logo.svg
Owner Associated British Foods
Country United Kingdom
Introduced 1706
Markets Tea
Website twinings.co.uk

Twinings /ˈtwaɪnɪŋz/ is an English marketer of tea, based in Andover, Hampshire. The brand is owned by Associated British Foods. It holds the world's oldest continually-used company logo, and is London's longest-standing rate-payer, having occupied the same premises on the Strand since 1706.[1]

Contents

History[edit]

Twinings' shop on the Strand in central London. It was established as a tea room in 1706.

The founder of Twinings was Thomas Twining. He opened Britain's first known tea room at No. 216 Strand, London, in 1706; it still operates today.[2] The firm's logo, created in 1787, is the world's oldest in continuous use.[3]

Holder of a royal warrant, Twinings has been owned by Associated British Foods since 1964.[4] It sells a variety of regional and flavoured teas such as Lapsang Souchong, Lady Grey, and Darjeeling, as well as infusions, coffee, and hot chocolate. It is generally accepted that the company was the first to blend Earl Grey in Britain during the premiership of Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, although this is disputed[5] by rival tea merchants Jacksons of Piccadilly,[6] which is owned by Twinings.[clarification needed]

In the mid-twentieth century, it made use of the advertising character Little Miss Barber.[citation needed]

Today[edit]

In 2005 Twinings introduced its first generic, non-speciality tea, under the brand 'Everyday Tea'.[citation needed] In 2006 it started producing a tinned chocolate drink, and in 2007 also launched a selection of tinned coffees onto the market.[citation needed]

Twinings owns Nambarrie, a tea company based in Belfast and in trade for over 140 years. In April 2008 Twinings announced their decision to close the Nambarrie plant.[7] Twinings said it needed to consolidate its UK manufacturing operations in the face of increasing global competition, and moved some production to China and Poland in late 2011, however vast majority of UK consumed tea is still produced in their factory in Andover, Hampshire.[citation needed]

The company launched a television advertisement in late 2011 which featured an animation of a woman struggling to row a boat in a storm, with the background song Wherever You Will Go by Londoner Charlene Soraia. The song reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Twinings said the advert aimed to metaphorically explain "the hectic lives that women today lead, and how taking just 10 minutes out each day to reconnect with yourself can have such an impact on the rest of your day."[8]

Ethics[edit]

The company is a founding member of the Ethical Tea Partnership,[9] a not-for-profit membership organisation of tea-packing companies that works to monitor and improve ethical conditions on tea estates. However, the organisation has been criticised for its "focus on the large-scale producer".[10] Twinings has also an Ethical Code of Conduct [11] and work with all its packaging and raw material suppliers to ensure decent working conditions in the supply chain.[12]

Despite this, Twinings is linked to a number of ethical and environmental issues. The criticism includes the worst ECRA rating for environmental reporting and palm oil use. In the Ethical Consumer magazine on a scale of 0 to 20 where 0–4 is ranked as "very poor", Twinings receives a score of 2 as of 2013.[10]

The company also aim to improve conditions in tea communities, in 2011, Twinings made a three-year financial commitment to support a UNICEF initiative aimed at addressing the inter-generational cycle of under-nutrition among girls and young women of the tea community.[13] The initiative is being implemented in 15 gardens in Dibrugarh, Assam, in partnership with the Assam Branch of the India Tea Association (ABITA).[14] The project aims to significantly reduce the prevalence of anaemia in adolescent girls and women by addressing the underlying causes of their poor nutrition,[15] complemented by improved life skills education. The initiative aims to directly improve the nutrition and life skills of over 8,000 adolescent girls in the region.[13]

Notable members of the Twining family[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Winn, Christopher (2007). I Never Knew That About London. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-191857-6. 
  2. ^ Phillips-Evans, James (2012) The Longcrofts: 500 Years of a British Family, pp. 244-245 (within Chapter X: Tea and Sympathy), published by Amazon
  3. ^ Standage, Tom (2005). A history of the world in six glasses. New York: Walker. p. 202. 
  4. ^ "MARESI Austria GmbH Österreich website". 
  5. ^ "Tea History of the Earl Grey". Art of Tea. 24 October 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2009. 
  6. ^ "Jacksons of Piccadilly – the finest quality teas from around the world". United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 January 2009. "Tea is a work of art and needs a master hand to bring out its noblest qualities." 
  7. ^ "Tea Time Over For Nambarrie". Northern Ireland, United Kingdom: 4NI.co.uk Northern Ireland News. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009. "One of Northern Ireland's top teas – and a favourite in Scotland too – is no longer to be packed in central Belfast." 
  8. ^ "Twinings Gets You Back To You: All About Our Advertising". Twinings.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-01-02. 
  9. ^ "Ethical Tea Partnership – Working for a Responsible Tea Industry". United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 January 2009. 
  10. ^ a b "Free buyers guide to Tea". Ethical Consumer. Retrieved 2013-01-02. 
  11. ^ "Twinings Ovaltine Code of Conduct". Twinings.co.uk. 27 March 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-02. 
  12. ^ "Associated British Foods: Corporate responsibility". 
  13. ^ a b http://www.unicef.org.uk/UNICEFs-Work/Our-supporters/Organisations/Corporate-partners/Twinings/
  14. ^ http://twinings.co.uk/about-twinings/social-and-environmental-responsibility/improving-health-and-nutrition-with-unicef-in-assam
  15. ^ http://tea4two.blog.co.uk/2012/08/18/twinings-and-unicep-and-assam-tea-helping-improve-lives-14572605/

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Twinings
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