Do we like them?

Do we like Twinings?

Tea brand dating from 1706, making black, green, herbal and flavoured teas. Based in the UK.

Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. It's a big, established brand that works with ethical-sourcing schemes. Its suppliers have been linked to poor conditions for tea workers, so we'd back it with caution.

Twinings is one of Britain's best-known tea names. Associated British Foods has owned it since 1964. One tracker describes it as a UK company that sells tea and tea products. We don't have a current official ABF statement confirming the ownership.

It's a founding member of the Ethical Tea Partnership. That group was formed in 1997, when big tea companies agreed to work together on conditions in their supply chains. We got this from a summary of Ethical Consumer's account of the group's history, not from the partnership itself.

The drama is mostly about suppliers. In 2015 a BBC investigation found dire conditions on Assam estates supplying big UK tea brands, Twinings among them. Afterwards the Rainforest Alliance stripped the Assam Company of its certification. Twinings says it suspended business with the company.

More recently, a Business & Human Rights Resource Centre report named Twinings among tea buyers failing to address abuses. After a BBC investigation into Kenyan tea, Twinings told Finlays it would place no new orders while an independent investigation went ahead. Twinings says it owns no estates and doesn't directly employ estate workers.