Dear B.Snoutling,
Thank you for your letter. We appreciate your concern about packaging and I believe we share some common ground in relation to reducing the environmental impact of industry. We appreciate that you took the time to write to us about this issue, so I believe you deserve an appropriate response.
Madura Tea’s packaging has been chosen to ensure it complies with
Australian Food and Grocery standards and Food Safety standards. This packaging ensures that our customers receive product that is
hermetically sealed to maintain freshness and to reduce the risk of tampering. Although we are constrained by the demands from supermarkets and other authorities with regard to how we package our product, we also aim to be environmentally friendly.
I appreciate that there is a fair amount of packaging with the tea bag
tray and the foil over-wrap. Unfortunately;
- our machines were set up initially for a tea tray to be incorporated
into the packaging
- the foil over-wrapping units require a tray or similar to wrap around,
therefore replacing our teabag making machines and foil wrapping unit is not only an extremely expensive outlay but our research shows that it leads to substantial energy demands in replacing our existing machines and in the disposal of our current ones. However, in saying this, we are investigating the cost of alternatives. It’s interesting that a few years ago people were attracted to quality packaging, however as you appreciate, the focus is rapidly shifting toward less packaging.
Some of the alternatives we have pursued include;
- we have reduced the thickness and width of the foil over-wrap to
reduce waste
- we have investigated and are continuing to investigate other packaging
alternatives including biodegradable foil materials. We have found that currently, a product called ‘Natureflex’ is the only biodegradable product available on the market. The specifications of this product show it as unsuitable for maintaining the freshness of tea products. As you would be aware, tea readily absorbs moisture and other aromas – this tendency affects the shelf life of tea products. We have found that Natureflex has three times the oxygen permeability and thirty times the moisture permeability of our present foil overwrap.
We are also involved in a number of recycling initiatives and we are
active members of the National Packaging Covenant which has been set up to reduce the impact companies have on the environment.
For example we recycle our waste cardboard, our packets are comprised of 30% recycled product and our cartons are 100% recycled. We have recently re-organized our transport system from two legs to one to reduce emissions. We are currently amalgamating our warehouses to reduce transport and the subsequent emissions and fuel usage.
Many tea suppliers ignore the importance of freshness and quality in order to cut corners at the expense of their customers. At Madura we choose to blend superior quality tea and believe the customer deserves the very best in tea and packaging.
At Madura, we realize that we survive in a very tough marketplace and we aim to always satisfy the needs of our customers. Any comments or criticisms made by our customers are addressed very seriously. We understand and appreciate your concerns and we are working toward a solution to the issue you have raised.
Thank you again for your past support of a very special Australian owned and operated business.
Yours sincerely,
(Name Removed)
Posted by snoutling 
