Bitter Taste of Tea, The: A Journey into the World of Fair Trade

Alternative title
Den Bitre Smag Af Te
Synopsis
This programme travels to tea estates in Sri Lanka, Kenya, India, and Bangladesh—some traditional, some fair trade—to expose unsafe work environments and labour exploitation. The workers are plucking tea for multinational companies such as Lipton and Finlay’s.The companies promise the consumers that they will act as responsible members of the global society, protecting the environment and ensuring good working and living conditions for the workers. Nothing could be more wrong. Finding little meaningful difference between fair trade and non-fair trade operations, questions arise: Are fair trade organisations such as the EU’s Max Havelaar Foundation being duped by tea growers? Or are growers doing the best they can in a brutal industry and a market that has yet to demand the quantities of fair trade tea that would create meaningful trickle-down profits for their workers?

NB For easy access, short extracts from the film dealing with specific issues are available separately.
Language
English
Country
Denmark
Year of release
2010
Year of production
2008
Subjects
Agriculture; Business studies
Keywords
agricultural economics; ethical issues; food production and distribution; multinational corporations; fair trade; tea

Online availability

URI
http://digital.films.com/play/LSCQKZ
Delivery
Streamed

Credits

Director
Tom Heinemann

Distribution Formats

Type
DVD
Format
Region 2 PAL
Price
28 euros
Availability
Sale
Duration/Size
58 minutes
Year
2011

Production Company

Name

Flip the Coin

Contact
Tom Heinemann
Email
tomheinemann@gmail.com
Web
http://www.flipthecoin.org/ External site opens in new window
Phone
+ 45 20 81 66 84
Address
Klosterstraede 23a
1157 Copenhagen K
Denmark

Distributor

Name

Films on Demand

Email
support@films.com
Web
http://ffh.films.com/digitallanding.aspx External site opens in new window
Address
Films Media Group
132 West 31st Street, 17th Floor
New York
NY 10001
USA
Name

Heinemann Media

Email
http://tomheinemann.dk/contact/
Web
http://tomheinemann.dk/ External site opens in new window
Phone
+45 208 16684
Address
c/o DokumentarGruppen
Klosterstraede 23A
1157 CPH
Denmark

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