Two Sri Lankan companies have begun to promote the principles of the
United Nations Global Compact inside packets of a new brand of tea.
Leaflets listing the ten principles have been added to every pack of
Mabroc Kelani Valley Tea, a new joint product of Mabroc Teas and Kelani
Valley Plantations, which are both part of the Sri Lanka-based Hayleys
Group and are Compact signatories. More than 18 million packs every
year will be shipped containing the leaflet, which has been translated
into Arabic, English, German, Japanese and Russian and will be marketed
in 40 countries.
The promotion has been sanctioned by the UN, and the companies will use
profits from the product to improve living conditions for 10,000
families working on the Kelani Valley plantations. The programme will
provide housing land, improve infrastructure, offer free medical
services, finance community projects and support vocational training
and recreational activities.
The UN is not averse to companies endorsing products with the Compact,
but this is the first such occurrence. A CSR director at a UK corporate
signatory told EP that larger firms shy away from explicit links to the
Compact on packaging for fear of ‘kickback’ from pressure groups.
