Organic standards vary quite broadly by country. Thus, a tea that holds an organic certification in China or India, the world's two largest tea producers, may not meet the organic standards in the European Union or United States. There's also the issue of countries actually enforcing their standards. Unfortunately, there are too many documented cases of tea farmers in countries ‘buying’ organic certifications from corrupt officials.
By owning and operating the entire supply chain for its single origin teas, Zealong is able to control quality in ways that most tea companies aren’t able to. Very few teas available to American consumers can make this claim, as many of them are simply blends imported from international farms the American tea companies don’t control.
The decisions that culminate into this award winning tea span across the entire process, from the plant to the cup. For its pure, single origin tea lines such as black, green, and oolong teas, Zealong uses 100% of its own organically grow tea, with no artificial oils or flavors added. While this decision does raise the cost of production, it also ensures the cleanest ingredients possible to start the next step of the process.
For its blended tea lines, Zealong sources all natural ingredients from other trusted organic farmers around the world. Adopting a 'trust but verify' posture with outside ingredients, Zealong subjects these ingredients to independent professional sample testing to ensure they are truly organic and free of potentially harmful chemicals. Zealong also works proactively with their neighbours surrounding the tea estate to create a 'clean zone' around their farm.
Producing clean leaves says nothing of the processes used to transform them though. Hence, Zealong made the decision to earn the ISO 22000 certification related to food safety practices. For the teas available in tea bags, they stay away from the traditional tea bags and instead use plant based tea pyramids that are compostable. This does two things: First, it protects you from the harmful plastics often found in traditional tea bags. Secondly, it provides more room for the leaves to unfurl in the brewing process- yielding a more delicious cup of tea.
Furthermore, every pack of Zealong tea is fully traceable to the exact plot where it was grown on the farm, and when it was harvested and produced. All of this and more to provide peace of mind that the final product is as clean as possible!
