2 Billion Cups a Day: The Business of Good Tea

Today, 15th December is International Tea Day

Tea is one of the most ordinary things in the world.

And that’s exactly why it matters.

Every day, over 2 billion cups of tea are consumed globally, making it the second most consumed drink on the planet after water, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Behind those cups are millions of people — smallholder farmers, pickers, processors, packers, traders, cafés, and family-run businesses — all connected by a long and often fragile global supply chain.

International Tea Day is not about aesthetics or lifestyle branding. It’s about recognising how something simple connects people, livelihoods, culture, and responsibility — and what businesses can learn from that.

Tea Is a Global Business Built on Small Players

Roughly 60% of the world’s tea is produced by smallholder farmers, many farming just a few acres of land. This reality is consistently highlighted by the FAO and the United Nations in their work on tea, rural livelihoods, and poverty reduction.

This matters because it exposes a truth about modern business:

Good business starts by acknowledging that reality — not hiding it.

What Good Tea Businesses Get Right

Across the world, the most credible tea businesses tend to share a few quiet principles. Not slogans. Not campaigns. Practices.

1. Transparency Over Perfection

The strongest tea brands don’t claim to have “solved” ethical sourcing. Instead, they explain where their tea comes from, who grows it, and what still needs improvement.

Organisations such as Fairtrade show how clearer pricing structures and premium payments can help value flow back to farming communities.

Transparency builds trust faster than polished claims ever will.

2. Long-Term Relationships, Not One-Off Deals

Tea rewards patience.

Many respected tea businesses work with the same farming cooperatives for decades, investing in training, soil health, and stable pricing rather than chasing the cheapest seasonal supplier — an approach regularly highlighted during UN International Tea Day discussions.

That mindset mirrors good business everywhere:

• Relationships beat transactions

• Stability beats short-term margin

• Loyalty compounds over time

3. Paying for Quality — Properly

In tea, quality isn’t accidental. It comes from skilled picking, careful processing, and time.

Businesses that respect this are willing to pay fairer prices, accept smaller margins, and resist the race to the bottom. The result is:

• Better product

• More resilient suppliers

• Customers who stay longer

Cheap inputs always cost more in the long run.

Tea and the Bigger Picture

Tea sits directly at the intersection of:

• Decent work and livelihoods

• Responsible consumption

• Sustainable land use

• Fair global trade

These themes closely align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals — but tea businesses don’t need to speak in policy language to contribute. If you are:

• Treating producers with dignity

• Paying on time

• Reducing waste

• Educating customers honestly

You are already part of that progress.

Lessons Any Business Can Learn from Tea

You don’t need to sell tea to learn from it.

For businesses looking for practical, realistic ways to apply these principles, our Good Business Toolkit shares simple actions that work across sectors — without perfection or pressure.

Tea reminds us that good business is:

• Patient, not frantic

• Human, not extractive

• Connected, not isolated

• Built over time, not overnight

It shows how everyday products — when handled with care — can support entire communities.

Final Thought

International Tea Day isn’t about drinking better tea.

It’s about doing business better.

One relationship. One decision. One cup at a time.

Share Your Story

If you run — or know — a business taking responsibility seriously, whether in food, retail, manufacturing, or services, we’d love to hear your story.

You can share it with us via our Share Your Story page.