You can get info on the plant at the Typhoo corporate web site.

It is the place Typhoo Tea was manufactured.   Typhoo Tea was produced at the plant from the 1930s until the late 1970s. It survived bombing in World War II.  The facility has been vacant since 1999.

If you want to look at the site before buying, the plant is located at the corner of Bordesley Street and New Canal Street, in Digbeth, Birmingham.

Now, get your own piece of tea history.    You can read more about the Typhoo plant at the web site of the Birmingham Mail paper.

Recently, we were contacted by Typhoo’s PR Agency, Cirkle Communications, based in the UK, who gave us the following information.

Typhoo are fully aware of the good work which Fairtrade to, and support them throughout a number of tea products which they sell, however the Typhoo brand itself will not be going fairtrade.

Typhoo tea are committed to ensuring that they trade fairly with all the tea estates that they buy tea from. They are uniquely placed in the Tea industry and demonstrate their commitment through trading fairly with tea estates in two ways; firstly to support the Fairtrade foundation by using Fairtrade tea with their Ridgways brand; secondly to use their Typhoo certification scheme to monitor the tea gardens they buy from are continuously improving fair labour standards (measured against the ETI base code), health & safety, quality and food safety, and sustainable environmental practices.

An example of how their certification scheme works is in the Makandi estate, Malawi where they have worked closely with the estate to deliver significant benefits including the introduction of terms and conditions for workers, greater wage transparency, improvements to housing, sanitation and access to water, as well as a focus on the elimination of discrimination against women and illegal disciplinary practices.

Over the next 12 months they intend to double the number of Fairtrade products that they sell, clearly demonstrating their commitment to the Fairtrade organisation for the long term. However they believe that their core Typhoo customers should be allowed the opportunity to freely choose between Fairtrade accredited products and standard products.

A box of Typhoo Tea.

In an effort to set themselves apart from other English brands, Typhoo is planning to make all teas FairTrade certified, according to a report in Marketing Magazine.  At the same time, the company will introduce a new tagline “Make Tea Fair.”   The expected date when this is to happen is unknown.

Recent research shows that most consumers would like tea brands to become FairTrade certified.  Although its teas are not currently FairTrade certified, Typhoo has an ethical sourcing program, which, the company says, improves conditions for growers and workers.

A box of Typhoo Tea.

Accordng to Typhoo, layoffs are needed to cut costs and bring the company back to profitability. About 320 workers are employed at the factory in Moreton, England.