English Tea Shop wins prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise
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A small cinnamon farmer supported by English Tea Shop.
English Tea Shop, which has been in the forefront of the organic tea industry in Sri Lanka in infusing Prajava (community) through Creating Shared Value (CSV), has won the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development, the UK’s highest accolade for business success in sustainability.
English Tea Shop has been given the award for its pioneering business model of ‘CSV’ coupled with strong leadership and engrained sustainable ethos throughout its supply chain under its ‘Prajava’ mantra, the Sri Lankan word for community.
Since its inception in 2010, English Tea Shop has been passionate about doing things differently and has been driving the sustainability agenda within the tea industry through its unique approach of CSV. The business model is about win-win situations, finding opportunities for growth in sustainable development and creating value for the business and for the world at large. Unlike CSR, CSV is a two-way street making businesses much more sustainable and meaningful in the long run, the company said in a media release.
As an early adaptor of this revolutionary approach, English Tea Shop has won a string of awards including the UK’s National Business Award for Sustainability in 2017, for its efforts and impact on lives of those across their supply chain. The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is the latest win for the tea company, and one which the business has been working towards for a number of years.
English Tea Shop CEO Suranga Herath said: “We’re honoured to have been chosen as the recipient of the award for sustainability. Each year we set ourselves challenges to make sure that as a business, and as change makers we never stop pushing for more. This award is a testament of the hard work, determination and vision that our employees and partners have put in over the last couple of years. Despite our tremendous growth, we’re far from finished and have some very exciting plans for the future. It’s also brilliant that sustainability initiatives such as CSV and Love, Care, Change are being recognised more widely.”
The latest initiative from English Tea Shop’s sustainability agenda is the launch of its ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) last month, which has been in development for the past year. The scheme was officially launched in Colombo to its Sri Lankan employees at the tea company’s’ Sustainability Forum, themed ‘Celebrating Prajava’, in February.