Putharjhora Tea Gardens

"I have worked in the conventional system, and now the organic one. Seen that the people had no idea about organics. No idea about urea and cowdung. At present everyone undertands what we are making is the pure thing. What we are selling is the pure thing. What we are doing to our bodies is the pure thing. It is beneficial to all areas"

Kushal - Assistant Manager

Putharjhora lies in the plains beneath the fabled hills of Darjeeling. Literally meaning ‘stone streams’, the Putharjhora gardens are not only home to the tea workers, but also to the wild elephants that come from as far away as the Bhutan hills.

Whilst we might relish the prospect of our office backdrop being the majestic Himalayas, picking tea is no easy task.Traditionally it’s the nimble fingers of ladies that do this job. With their delicate hands they are extremely adept at picking the top two leaves and the bud that goes into making our delicious teas.

Putharjhora specialises in CTC teas which are developed through the ‘cut, tear and curl’ method to the leaves. This makes a rich, full bodied tea, perfect for use in our Masala Chai and Standard blends.

Organic Conversion

After the garden was converted to organic the atmosphere has been very different. In the past with conventional gardens they have seen many adverse effects on the wild life. Now that they are organic they are seeing different animals that never used to be there.

Organic methods have also caused many challenges for the people who live and work in this garden. Once the chemicals were gone there was an increase in mosquitoes, and in turn malaria became quite prevalent. One of the first things they bought with the Fairtrade premiums was mosquito nets, which they also distributed to the outlying communities.

Fairtrade Benefits

The Fairtrade premium has also been used to develop a ‘Mothers Club’ which includes female members of the Joint Body from the tea garden. The women go to the surrounding villages to talk to families about illnesses, medicines and neglect, in order to educate them. Most village ladies are quite shy so these visits allow the members to create trusting relationships so they can lower their defences and talk to them. The members then bring back issues they discover to the rest of the Joint Body to discuss and seek solutions in order to help them.

Working together as a co-operative is very important to them. Above all they have learnt that with good effort and teamwork they are able to make a sustainable product and have a brighter future.