I stumbled on this Cornish Tea when checking the prices after listening to a BBC program about tea pickers in India. They earn a bit over £1 a day, during which they pick 24 kg of leaves. The tea sells for £7.15 per 50 gms - it is a "luxury" brand - so the price we pay for it is over 3,000 times what they earned for picking it.
The problem is most of Tregothnan tea comes from India too. Despite what is suggested by the F&M website, only about 25-50% of the tea is from Cornwall, the rest from Asia. Admitted as much here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddr...-any-good.html, although being married to someone who grew up on the edge of the estate (in-laws still live there), I'm told it's 25% at best.
This is an interesting case study, but you could conclude a lot about it.
a) sale price rarely reflects commodity prices
b) tea pickers should be paid a lot more and are being exploited
c) tea buyer should pay a lot less and are being exploited
d) tea sellers are making too much profit
e) tea companies could pay more to their pickers but choose not to because people are happy with the status quo
f) it's reasonable to expect to pay very high prices for "luxury" items
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