Eswaran Brothers Exports first in Asia to Water Footprint tea products

Eswaran Brothers Exports cemented its position as the country’s leader in sustainable tea products by commissioning the country’s first Organisational and Product Water Footprints.  

Carried out according to the guidelines of the International Water Footprint Network through its partner in Sri Lanka, The Carbon Consulting Company, the Water Footprints bring a whole new dimension towards building sustainable corporates and brands.

“Having paved the way by becoming the first Carbon Neutral tea company in the world, we decided that we needed to up the ante, to cement our position as a truly sustainable brand and company,” said Deputy Chairman of Eswaran Brothers Exports, Subramaniam Eassuwaren.

“The Water Footprint of an organisation is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services of an organisation. An organisational Water Footprint has three main components, namely, the Green Water Footprint or the volume of rainwater evaporated or incorporated into the product; Blue Water Footprint or the volume of surface or groundwater evaporated, incorporated into the product or returned to another catchment or to the sea; Grey Water Footprint, the volume of water required to dilute the pollution generated during the production process.”

Eassuwaran went on to say that most companies have traditionally focused their sustainability efforts on operational water usage while failing to address water usage throughout the supply chain.

“Eswaran Brothers Exports however have taken that extra step to mitigate our environmental impact by calculating the product water footprint for our new tea brand ‘Tea So Tea’.”

The study identifies that the embedded water usage in a cup of black tea amounts to 30 litres. “Of course valued added products like our ‘Jungle Chai’ have a higher footprint. Through this initiative the company has taken into account the fresh water consumption in the total life cycle of this tea product; starting from the cultivation stage and continuing on to tea processing and transportation to finally the packaging stage.  By evaluating fresh water consumption at the cultivation stage in this manner, the product Water Footprint will lead to more effective ways to consume fresh water from natural springs as well as consider other ecological factors of the natural environment.”

“Offering integrated sustainability solutions to companies was the goal behind setting up the Carbon Consulting Company,” said COO Sanith de Silva Wijeyeratne. “Tying up with the Water Footprint Network enabled us to offer local companies a Water Footprint that was carried out in accordance with the Network’s Water Footprint Assessment Manual which is a global standard in Water Footprinting. By assessing both an organisational and product water footprint, Eswaran Brothers is focusing on efficient water usage throughout the production process as well as accounting for water usage throughout the supply chain. This type of organisational and product water footprint analysis, illustrates the company’s direct and indirect water consumption in order have a comprehensive understanding of the company’s impact on limited water resources, and help it address the looming global water crisis by protecting this invaluable resource.”

Founded by the legendary VTV Deivanayagam Pillai, Eswaran Brothers Exports is part of the VTV Group. The group has extensive business interests in the South Asian region.  Eswaran Brothers was founded in 1963 by his son D. Eassuwaren to export Ceylon Teas and spices.  From humble beginnings, the company has developed into one of the leading tea companies in the region, a conglomerate with many industry leading companies. Now, with customers in over 43 countries, the company is focused on providing a total tea solution worldwide.

The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) has been created with the purpose of helping organisations reduce their environmental impact and maximise the CSR and marketing opportunities arising from these efforts.  The CCC’s mission is to help corporate leaders and decision makers develop the skill sets and knowledge base that would be required for survival in the dawning era of a low carbon economy.  The CCC is a partner of the Carbon Neutral Company of the UK as well as the Water Footprint Network.