Impact-Driven Tea Production

Our country has been home to a tea production tradition in the fertile lands of the Eastern Black Sea region for nearly 85 years. Tea farming is the livelihood, directly or indirectly, for thousands of families. However, tea's economic value is declining due to industrialization and the limitation of tea production to a single variety. The size of tea gardens per household also shrinks each generation due to inheritance divisions. These two factors are the biggest obstacles to families achieving a sustainable source of income.

Unfortunately, qualified job opportunities in rural areas are minimal. The relocation of large factories' packaging and support units to significant cities results in the disappearance of skilled job opportunities for the local population, turning the tea economy into a seasonal and insufficient source of income. The consequence of this is clear: irregular migration from villages to cities. While cities grow, rural areas empty out, making achieving sustainable living in either place impossible.

So, what is Lazika trying to do differently?

As Lazika, we are right in the heart of tea, designing flavours for the world and producing teas in rural areas. 98% of the added value we generate stays in the region we are located in. All our employees work with us year-round; they are not seasonal workers. Ardeşen is our Global Headquarters. We aim to create 500 full-time jobs in the next five years and 1,000 full-time jobs within ten years. We will prevent migration from villages to cities. We will create world-class job opportunities in Ardeşen for young people who graduate from university.

We pay more for higher-quality, better-harvested tea. We spend, on average, four times more for handpicked tea. This increases not only the economic value of tea but also its quality. 380 incredible women—our aunts and sisters—hand-pick 2.5 tea leaves for us. The amount of tea we purchase increases 3-4 times each year because kindness is contagious. Every year, more growers are hand-picking tea. These high-quality teas are enjoyed in 50 countries outside of our own.

Women entrepreneurs sew our fabric packaging in the villages around Ardeşen. It was a crazy project, but our customers supported it, and it became a beautiful, sustainable project that creates real added value. It's a project that is good for tea.

We aim to triple Lazika's impact in rural areas each year. We will achieve this plan through organic growth and new projects. From time to time, we will keep you informed about our Impact projects.

Let's look forward to beautiful days on which we leave a lasting mark and grow exponentially in impact.

This is where "Impact-Focused Tea Production" comes into play. We aim to preserve Lazika's rich tea heritage while blending our production processes with environmentally friendly and community-supportive methods. We apply organic farming techniques in our tea gardens, develop projects supporting local communities, and aim to infuse flavour and goodness into every tea leaf.