1. History

2. Ethics

3. Varieties
    Black Teas  Indulgence  Superblends  Cold Infuse 

4. Notable members of the Twining family

5. See also

6. References

7. External links

History

The founder of Twinings was Thomas Twining from Painswick, Gloucestershire in England. He opened Britain's first known tea room at No. 216 Strand, London, in 1706; it still operates today.^[4] The firm's logo, created in 1787, is the world's oldest in continuous use.^[5][6]

Holder of a royal warrant, Twinings has been owned by Associated British Foods since 1964.^[7] It sells a variety of regional and flavoured teas such as the smoked Lapsang Souchong, the oil scented black tea Lady Grey, and the partially oxidised Indian tea Darjeeling, as well as infusions, coffee, and hot chocolate. The company is associated with Earl Grey tea, a tea infused with bergamot, though it is unclear when this association began, and how important the company's involvement with the tea has been; Jacksons of Piccadilly, originally a rival of Twinings, but bought up by Twinings in the 1990s, also have associations with the blend.^[8]

In 2005, Twinings introduced its first generic, non-speciality tea, under the brand "Everyday Tea".{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} In 2006, it started producing a tinned chocolate drink. In 2007, it also launched a selection of tinned coffees onto the market.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

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.^[9] 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, the majority of UK consumed Twinings tea is still produced in their factory in Andover, Hampshire.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}

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."^[10]

Twinings released a new range of seven green tea infusions in February 2018 under the name 'Superblends'. The seven varieties were named "Energise", "Glow", "Defence", "Sleep", "Matcha", "Turmeric" and "Detox".^[11][12]

In August 2018, Twinings published a list of all its tea suppliers in India on its Sourced with Care website. This came after Traidcraft Exchange called on all the major UK tea brands to show the public which tea plantations they buy from and crack down on modern slavery in the supply chain. Traidcraft Exchange welcomed the move, their policy adviser, Fiona Gooch, saying that it would put "pressure on the other big tea brands ... to follow suit".^[13]

The next month, Twinings launched their Cold Infuse range, a tea blend meant for use with cold water. Six flavours were initially released and were intended to be a healthy alternative to fizzy drinks.^[14][15]

Ethics

Twinings has an ethical programme named 'Sourced with Care', which aims to improve the quality of life in the communities it sources from.^[16] Through its Sourced with Care programme, Twinings aims to improve the lives of 500,000 people in its supply chain by 2020 through enhancing livelihoods, enabling life opportunities and improving living standards.^[17]

One example of a project that falls under Sourced with Care is Twinings' long-term partnership with Unicef, originated in 2011, to improve the nutrition and protection status of adolescent girls on tea estates in Assam.^[18] This project won Twinings a National CSR Award in 2017 in the category of 'International Sustainability Community.'^[19] In February 2018 Twinings and Unicef embarked upon Phase III of their partnership to reach even more women and children across tea gardens in Assam.^[20]

The company is a founding member of the Ethical Tea Partnership,^[21] a not-for-profit membership organisation of tea-packing companies that works to monitor and improve ethical conditions on tea estates in all major tea growing regions. However, the organisation has been criticised for its "focus on the large-scale producer".^[22] Twinings has an Ethical Code of Conduct^[23] and works with all its packaging and raw material suppliers to ensure decent working conditions in the supply chain.^[24]

Varieties

Black Teas

The following are some of Twinings black tea blends:^[25]

• English Breakfast – A blend of Assam and Ceylon teas.
• Strong English Breakfast – A stronger blend of the English Breakfast.
• English Breakfast Fairtrade Organic – A Fairtrade-certified, organic English Breakfast blend.
• Everyday – A blend of Assam, African and Yunnan teas.
• English Afternoon – A blend of African, Indian and Ceylon teas.
• Irish Breakfast – A blend of Assam, Indonesian, and Chinese teas.
• Australian Afternoon
• Assam – A blend of Assam teas.
• Earl Grey – A blend of tea with bergamot.
• Lady Grey – A blend of tea with lemon, orange and bergamot.
• Ceylon – A blend of Sri Lankan teas.
• Darjeeling – A blend of Darjeeling teas.
• Turkish Apple Tea^[26] – A blend of Turkish tea and spiced apple

Indulgence

The following are the blends from the Indulgence range:

• Lemon Drizzle^[27] – Green tea with lemon peel and cake pieces.
• Gingerbread^[28] – Green tea with ginger root and golden syrup.
• Salted Caramel^[29] – Green tea with salted caramel flavour.
• Cherry Bakewell^[30] – Green tea with cherry, vanilla and almond flavour.

Superblends

• Energise – Green tea with mandarin, apple, guarana and vitamin B6.
• Glow – Green tea with strawberry, cucumber, aloe vera and biotin.
• Defence – Green tea with citrus, ginger root and vitamin C
• Sleep – Green tea with spiced apple, vanilla, camomile and passionflower.
• Matcha – Green tea with cranberry, lime and manganese.
• Turmeric – Green tea with turmeric, orange and star anise.
• Detox – Green tea with lemon, ginger, burdock root, fennel and selenium.

Cold Infuse

• Watermelon, strawberry and mint
• Rose lemonade and hibiscus
• Passionfruit, mango and blood orange
• Blueberry, apple and blackcurrant
• Lemon, orange and ginger
• Coconut, pineapple and green tea.

Notable members of the Twining family

• Thomas Twining (1675–1741), tea merchant
• Thomas Twining (1735–1804), classical scholar
• Richard Twining (1749–1824), tea merchant
• Elizabeth Twining (1805–1889), botanical illustrator
• Louisa Twining (1820–1912), social reformer
• Edward Twining (1899-1967), diplomat

See also

• Brooke Bond
• Lipton
• PG Tips
• Tata Tea
• Tea
• Tetley
• Tetley Tea Folk
• Typhoo tea
• Yorkshire Tea
• Dilmah

References

External links

• Official British website
• Official Canadian website
• Official American website
• [https://twinings.com.au/ Official Australian website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311070210/http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=23868,1,22 Interview with Stephen Twining (September 2006) The Citizen, South Africa]

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