Ht Mission Report 2014 Web Final

8/10/2019 Ht Mission Report 2014 Web Final

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2014 Mission Report

Keeping It Honest
https://www.honesttea.com/


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Second, it is exciting to see our growthaccelerate. It took us ten years to sell our rst112 million bottles, but only six to sell thenext 888 million. Its no coincidence that theinection point in our growth coincides withThe Coca-Cola Companys rst investmentin Honest Tea, back in March of 2008.

Our growth has fueled increased demand

for organic ingredients. In 2014 we expect topurchase nearly 8 million pounds of organicingredients, which is ten times more than

we purchased in 2008.

Our growth has helped spur more suppliersto join the organic movement. Now whenI visit tea-growing communities, theyknow its not just some guy who started acompany out of his house in Bethesda, its a

representative of The Coca-Cola Company.In March of 2014 I made a journey to Paraguay togain a better understanding of how our organicsugar cane is produced. Unlike the tea gardens

in India, where women generally do the picking,the people harvesting the sugar stalks areoverwhelmingly men. This is primarily due to thephysical demands of the crop which requires apowerful machete swing. But I saw that no matter

who is doing the actual labor, the premium

pricing and fair trade premiumswe pay for organic and FairTrade Certied sugar benetthe entire community andallow them to invest in schoolsfor their children, modern farmequipment, health care for the

workers, and even help provide asafety net for older workers.

Letter from

the TeaEO

In May 2014, we sold our onebillionth Honest beverage.The milestone provoked a fewreections:

First, it means were nolonger just selling to people

we know, or selling casesthat we personally placedin a store it often felt that

way 16 years ago. A TALE OF TWO SUGAR TOWNS

This past Spring I also traveled to the DominicanRepublic where I came to appreciate howorganic agriculture can make a big differencein a communitys economic viability. I visitedthe town of Consuelo where I witnessed the

economic devastation that transpired whenthe towns (non-organic) sugar mill closeddown. Organic certication differentiates

some sugar from commodity sugar, which isone way for our supplier communities to betterinsulate themselves from the swings of changingcommodity market conditions.

At the end of the day, making an organic productcan be about more than just great taste at acompetitive price it can also be about supportinglong-term investments in the environment, thefarmers and their communities. And thats ourmission.

Honestly yours,

Seth GoldmanCo-founder and TeaEO


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Mission StatementHonest Tea seeks to create and promote

great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages.

We strive to grow our business with the same honesty

and integrity we use to craft our products,

with sustainability and great taste for all.


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Fair Trade USA

VisionSpring

1% for the Planet

National Park Foundation

GreenBlue (How2Recycle) Trees for the Future

Playworks

Montgomery County CorporateVolunteer Council

We talk more about each of these

organizations throughout the report. They

differ considerably in size, location and focus

area, but the one thing they share is their

passion and dedication to making meaningfulchange in the world. Its been a privilege and

an honor to be part of their work.

Jenny BurnsDirector, Mission

A Message from Mission Control

HONEST MISSION REPORT 2014 5

At Honest Tea, we talk a lot about how

mission is at the core of our business. For

simplicitys sake, weve split that mission

into ve complementary pillars that embody

our values. Our business model (aka our

mission in a bottle) is designed so thatprot and impact are tied together. It creates

a virtuous cycle: as we innovate, we grow our

salesand as sales grow, so does our impact.

But in the grand scheme of things, no matter

how much impact we have, we are still one

company with limited time and resources

(weve got a tea business to run after all!).

So we often look to partners with a proven

track record to help us deepen that impactand advance causes beyond our scope of

expertise.

In the 12 or so months since the release of the

2013 mission report, Honest Tea has signed

new or expanded partnership agreements

with 10 non-prots:

FoodCorps

Whole Kids Foundation

SOURCING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

PRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PRODUCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

PACKAGING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

THE CONVERSATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

AT THE STORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

HITTING THE STREETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

HEADQUARTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

EMPLOYEES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

IMPACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

PROMOTING

HEALTH &

WELLNESS

REDUCING OUR

ENVIRONMENTAL

FOOTPRINT

CREATING

ECONOMIC

OPPORTUNITY

MAINTAINING

TRANSPARENCY

BUILDING

COMMUNITEA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ultivae

THE 5 PILLARS OF OUR MISSION
http://fairtradeusa.org/http://visionspring.org/http://onepercentfortheplanet.org/http://www.nationalparks.org/http://www.greenblue.org/http://www.treesforthefuture.org/http://www.playworks.org/https://cvc-mc.org/https://cvc-mc.org/https://foodcorps.org/https://www.wholekidsfoundation.org/https://www.wholekidsfoundation.org/https://foodcorps.org/https://cvc-mc.org/https://cvc-mc.org/http://www.playworks.org/http://www.treesforthefuture.org/http://www.greenblue.org/http://www.nationalparks.org/http://onepercentfortheplanet.org/http://visionspring.org/http://fairtradeusa.org/


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IngredientSourcingORGANIC

In 1999 Honest Tea introduced the rstorganic ready-to-drink bottled tea andin 2004 we converted all of our teas andjuice drinks to organic. We are dedicatedto expanding the demand and supply of

organic ingredients.

ORGANIC PURCHASES

YEAR IN REVIEW: 2013

CHANGE FROM

2012 TO 2013

%

6,6,8 lbs

ORGANIC VS LOCAL?

Weve heard the argument on buying organic

versus local and which is better. We believe

theyre different options with different

benets, and that theres a role for both in

a sustainable food system. But with organic

representing less than 1% of farmland(nationally and globally), we have some work

to do before that is a dilemma consumers

will have to address in their daily shopping

decisions.

Honest sources its top 20 ingredients from

different regions and climates around the

world. This ingredient list is calculated by

weight.

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SUPPLIER PROFILE:

WHOLESOME SWEETENERSIntroducing Fair Trade Certied sugar!

Our Summer Refreshers and glass line of teas

now feature fair trade sugar supplied to us by

Wholesome Sweeteners, a Sugarland, Texas-

based sweetener company. Wholesome is a

supplier that sources organic, fair trade, and

non-GMO certied sweeteners from around

the world.

In the spring of 2014 our co-founder andTeaEO Seth Goldman visited Azucarera

Paraguaya (AZPA), Wholesomes primary


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AGAVE SYRUP MEXICO

APPLE CONCENTRATE ARGENTINA, TURKEY

BLACKBERRY LEAVES BULGARIA

BLACK TEA (ALL TYPES)INDIA

CANE SUGAR PARAGUAY, USA

CONCORD GRAPE CONCENTRATE USA

FAIR TRADE HIBISCUS TEA EGYPT

FAIR TRADE OOLONG TEA INDIA

FAIR TRADE WHITE TEA CHINA

GREEN TEA (ALL TYPES)CHINA

HONEY BRAZIL

LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE ARGENTINA

MANGO PUREE COLUMBIA

ORANGE JUICE CONCENTRATE MEXICO

PEACH PUREE USA

POMEGRANATE JUICE CONCENTRATEUSA

RICE SYRUP PAKISTAN

STRAWBERRY JUICE CONCENTRATEUSA

TULSI INDIA

WHITE GRAPE CONCENTRATE TURKEY

Honest sources its top 20 organic ingredients

(by weight) from regions and climates aroundthe world.


source for fair trade sugar (see page 8).

AZPA, founded in 1910 in Tebicuary, about120 miles from the capital city of Asuncin,

is the largest sugar producer in Paraguay.

In 2004, less than 10% of AZPAs annual

sugar production was organic. By 2014, this

amount had increased to 70%. The farmers

who grow the sugar processed by AZPA

receive a 25-30% fair trade premium on top

of the market price of organic sugar. The

farmers have invested these premiums to

improve productivity and ultimately increasetheir incomes. Now thats a sweet deal.


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SUPPLIER PROFILE:

WUYUAN XITOU TEA FARMERS'ASSOCIATION

Wuyuan County, Jianxgi, China600 members

ABOUT

Wuyuan Xitou, located in the heart of China's

"Golden Tea Triangle", was one of the rst

tea producers in China to become Fair Trade

Certied. Since its initial certication in

2005, Wuyuan Xitou has transformed intoa vibrant, democratic producer organization

focused on producing high-quality teas for

the international market.

FAIR TRADE IMPACT

Children of members benet from the on-going

allocation of premiums to provide scholarships

for university studies. Additionally, the tea

producers voted to commit premiums to a

long-term investment in the establishment ofa new primary processing facility.

Trip to Origin:

Seth Travels to ParaguayMost Fair Trade Certied sugar comes from smallholder farmers, many of whomhave invested their fair trade premiums in new equipment to ease transportand improve quality. Organic farming practices include green cutting to addnutrients to the soil and breeding tiny wasps that control destructive cane worms.

To learn more about Seths trip and Fair Trade Certied sugar, check out thisvideo of the trip:

http://www.youtube.com/HonestTea

8 HONEST MISSION REPORT 2014

FAIR TRADE YEAR IN REVIEW: 2013

Honest Tea supports farmers and workersthrough our purchases of Fair Trade Certied

tea, sugar, and select herbs. According to

Fair Trade USA, fair trade certication

guarantees better prices and wages, safe

working conditions, sustainable production

and investments in the communities of our

farmers and workers.

When we purchase Fair Trade Certied

ingredients, we pay the market price forthe ingredient plus an additional premium

that supports farming improvements

and community development. Our 2013

premiums equaled $155,169, which was

invested in projects such as a new tea

processing facility in China and access to

clean-burning cooking equipment and fuel

for tea workers in India. In addition to

these premiums, Honest Tea pays an annual

service fee and certication fees to FairTrade USA to cover administrative costs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcuxXwN3rKY&list=UUOljVqM3hgDazSnKW9eWb0Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcuxXwN3rKY&list=UUOljVqM3hgDazSnKW9eWb0Q


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ASSAM EYE CARE INITIATIVE

We wanted to nd a way to deepen ourconnection and impact within the fair trade

communities from which we source our tea.

In partnership with Fair Trade USA, we set

aside a dedicated fund to address needs that

a community had identied but had not yet

been able to cover with their annual fair trade

premiums. Our rst pilot program, which

supported our supplier the Tonganagaon Tea

Estate in Assam, addressed the communitys

needs for eye care.

Assam is a state in Northeast India known for

its black tea and lush hillsides, although it is

also one of the most impoverished tea regions

in the world. As with many tea growing

regions, specialized healthcare is not always

readily accessible. Access to optometrists

is particularly important in these areas

because tea pluckers rely heavily on eyesight

to pick quality leaves. Since poor eyesightcan negatively affect the long-term earning

potential and quality of life of tea pluckers,

we asked VisionSpring to develop a program

to bring on-site eye care to the community.

Another new partner offered the opportunity

to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

With a grant from the U.S. Agency for

International Development (USAID), Labor

Link by Good World Solutions delivered

mobile phone surveys to the eye care

recipients shortly after the screenings.

In February 2014, VisionSpring enlisted

a local non-prot organization, ERC Eye

Care, to travel to Tonganagaon. Knowing

the language and the cultural customs of the

region aided ERC Eye Care in screening 5,127

tea pluckers and community members. 2,400

of those screened were given a prescription

for corrective lenses and a free pair of

glasses. In March a follow-up survey revealed

encouraging results. We hope to extend this

effort to other tea gardens in the region (or

nearby) in the coming year.

Are your VisionSpring eyeglasses he firspair of eyeglasses you have ever owned?

Yes 71%No 29%

Thinking abou your new eyeglasses,how useful would you say hey are in

your daily life?

Very useful 59%

Somewha useful 36%

No useful 5%

Do you believe your new glasses have helpedyou perform beter a work or school?

Yes 72%No 25%

Do no atend work or school 3%

Are you a man or a woman?

Woman 53%

Man 47%

Which is he main reason you did nopurchase eyeglasses earlier?

Had no had eye check-up 49%

No vision problems before 39%

Could no afford glasses 5%No opical shop nearby 5%

Sigma associaed wih wearing glasses 2%

How long have you worked a heea esae?

6+ years 34%

Less han 1 year 23%

13 years 17%

4-6 years 17%

Unanswered 9%

* LABORLINK SURVEY, MARCH 2014, ADMINISTERED BYMOBILE PHONE

* N=148; TOTAL NUMBER OF VALID RESPONSES VARIES BYQUESTION

RESULTS


SURVEY QUESTIONS


10/24

ProductThis year has seen several exciting new

additions to our family of beverages.

SUMMER REFRESHERS

In May 2014 Honest Tea released a new

line of Summer Refreshers available

exclusively at Whole Foods Market. These

limited-edition beverages are organic

and sweetened with Fair Trade Certied

sugara rst for Honest. The purchase of

fair trade sugar for these drinks benets

sugar farmers in Paraguay. One challenge

in developing this line was coming up with

a sweetness formulation that would appeal

to a wide audience. Because of its inherent

tartness, lemonade is a tricky drink to make

just a tad sweet. We learned this rsthand

with our Zero Calorie Lemonade, which

was discontinued in 2013. We ended up

with a formulation of 70 calories per 8 uid

oz serving for all 5 varieties which is also

sweeter than any drink we have previously

offered under the Honest brand.

ProductionWhile our ingredients come fromaround the world, the nished productsare bottled at plants across the U.S.

In 2011 we performed a life cycle analysis

of our top two selling varieties to betterunderstand the environmental impact of the

manufacturing and distribution of two of

our top-selling varieties. If youre interested

in this information, please see our 2011

Mission Report.

More recently, many of our products have

been integrated into the sourcing, bottling,

and distribution systems of The Coca-Cola

Company. This means that much of our

production-related impact data is rolled up

into the overall reporting of The Coca-Cola

Company which can be viewed at: http://

www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability/

http://www.honesttea.com/wp-content/themes/honesttea/assets/pdf/2011_Mission_Report.pdfhttp://www.honesttea.com/wp-content/themes/honesttea/assets/pdf/2011_Mission_Report.pdfhttp://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability/http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability/http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability/http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainability/http://www.honesttea.com/wp-content/themes/honesttea/assets/pdf/2011_Mission_Report.pdfhttp://www.honesttea.com/wp-content/themes/honesttea/assets/pdf/2011_Mission_Report.pdf


11/24

INTRODUCING

RADIANT RASPBERRY TEAWe loved raspberry with tea so much, we

made two! Our new Radiant Raspberry Tea

in the 16 uid oz glass bottle is made with

organic, fair trade tea and sugar. And to give

it a little something special, weve brewed it

with organic blackberry leaves for a subtle

earthiness that complements the black tea

and helps balance the bold fruit.

it's so hard to say goodbye...A few of the tea varieties that we retired

this year were long-time contributors to our

mission. Were making efforts to preserve

their impact where possible.

Through a partnership with Whole

Foods Market, proceeds from Raspberry

Fields were directed toward the Whole

Planet Foundation. Our new Radiant

Raspberry Tea is made with Fair Trade

Certied tea and sugar, which supportsthe sourcing communities behind both

ingredients directly.

We'llmissyou.

xoxo


RASPBERRY TEA

Our Raspberry Tea in 16.9 uid oz PETbottles is now available nationwide! After a

successful test pilot in the New York region,

we listened to feedback from our customers

and tinkered with the formula and the label

design to get it just right. To see a video of

where we source the black tea for this recipe,

visit: http://www.youtube.com/HonestTea

We purchased Renewable Energy

Certicates annually to offset the power

used to produce Jasmine Green Energy.

Now that The Coca-Cola Company either

owns or audits our production plants,

we are working to align our operations

with the company's goal to reduce CO2

emissions embedded in every drink

across its entire production chain by

25% by the year 2020.

Despite the phase out of Community

Green (which featured the City Year logo

& mission on the label), we continue to

support City Year through its annual

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

event.

BUT WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF NEW PRODUCTS COMES THE

RETIREMENT OF OTHERS. WE LOVED THEM WHILE THEY WERE AROUND!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEXPVbzBSfc&list=UUOljVqM3hgDazSnKW9eWb0Qhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEXPVbzBSfc&list=UUOljVqM3hgDazSnKW9eWb0Q


12/24

PackagingOur tea-m has been working hard toupdate our label graphics to reinforce and

more clearly communicate our Mission.

FAIR TRADE LABELING UPDATE

Fair Trade USA recently revised its labeling

policy, designed to provide more impact to

farmers & workers while being clearer to

consumers. One of the key changes is that

products containing between 20% and 100%

Fair Trade Certied ingredients (as a portion

of total ingredients, by weight) are required to

list that percentage on the label in addition to

using the Fair Trade Certied logo. Products

containing less than 20% fair trade ingredients

cannot use the Fair Trade Certied logo at all

(but may state that the product is made with

Fair Trade Certied ingredients).The rst products to adopt this new labeling

system include our Summer Refreshers and

our Heritage line of teas in 16 uid oz glass

bottles. The other products will follow in the

coming year.

We have mixed feelings about this policy, as

percentages by weight are easier to understand

on solid products like granola bars than they are

on liquid products like brewed tea or lemonade,and were concerned it may cause more

confusion about the products contents than

it does clarify. This is especially challenging

with tea leaves, which represent the primary

avor in our drinks, but are such a lightweight

ingredient. Honest products will continue

to identify whether an ingredient is organic

and/or fair trade on the back of the label. For

every ingredient listed as fair trade, you can

feel condent that 100% of the volume of thatparticular ingredient purchased is fair trade.

1% FOR THE PLANET

1% for the Planet connects businesses,consumers, and nonprots to drive positive

environmental change. In the last 10 years,

1,200 businesses worldwide have donated

more than $100 million to sustainability-

oriented nonprots. Honest Tea has

committed to donate the equivalent of at

least one percent of sales from our tea line

in 16 uid oz glass bottles to organizations

within the 1% For the Planet network.

In 2013, nonprot organizations beneting

from Honest Teas contribution include:

Fair Trade USA, National Park Foundation,

FoodCorps, Bethesda Green, Trees For The


Future, National Wildlife Federation, Rodale

Institute, Social Venture Network, William

James Foundation, and Green America.

HOW2RECYCLE

We think recycling should be simple. Thats

why we voluntarily hopped on board with

How2Recycle, a program developed by non-

prot GreenBlue in an effort to clarify the

recycling process. Since its founding in 2008,

the project has worked with businesses to

adopt a set of simple, standardized consumerrecycling instructions (for more details see

http://www.how2recycle.info/). Honest Tea

is excited to announce that in the coming

year, the majority of our labels will bear the

How2Recycle guidelines.
http://onepercentfortheplanet.org/http://www.how2recycle.info/http://www.how2recycle.info/http://www.how2recycle.info/http://www.how2recycle.info/http://www.how2recycle.info/http://www.how2recycle.info/http://onepercentfortheplanet.org/


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FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:WWW.TERRACYCLE.COM/ENUS/

COLLECTIONLOCATIONSCUMULATIVESINCE 2007

TerracycleIn 2007, we were a founding member of theTerraCycleDrink Pouch Brigadeestablished

to help keep pouches out of landlls.

,

,LOCATIONSESTABLISHEDIN 2013

DRINK POUCHES COLLECTED(CUMULATIVE SINCE 2007)

,,*

OF DRINK POUCHES DIVERTED FROMLANDFILLS (CUMULATIVE SINCE 2007),,

*

lbs

OF CHARITABLE DONATIONS GENERATEDBY THE DRINK POUCH BRIGADE(CUMULATIVE SINCE 2007)

*Million

*AS OF JUNE 30, 2014


The labels on our glass bottles wereupdated to bring the origins and

inspiration behind each tea variety to life.
http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/


14/24

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH

THE COCACOLA COMPANY:A THEORY OF CHANGE

At Honest Tea we strive to make organic

products accessible to all consumers. Yet,

given that organics today represent 4% of

total US food sales (and 1% of US farmland)*,

we know theres a lot of work that needs to be

done to make that happen.

Looking at our relationship with The Coca-

Cola Company, we have seen the positiveimpact it has made on the growth of organics

in the U.S. This partnership has allowed us

to increase our sales six-times over since

the initial investment in 2008, increasing

the amount of organic ingredients weve

purchased to 6.5 million pounds in 2013 (from

800,000 pounds in 2007). Additionally, we

have been able to expand our availability to

over 100,000 outlets and in doing so have

increased organic awareness and knowledge

among consumers. There are inevitable

challenges that come along with being a part

of a larger family of brands, but overall our

partnership with Coca-Cola has been integral

to our efforts in achieving our mission.

TheConversationOur goal is to have open and honestcommunication with as many peoplewho contact us as possible whether itswith a question, comment, or complaint.

INQUIRIES14,390 TOTAL

HONEST FEEDBACK

Ben L Honest TeaJune 3

You should consider a gallon size for grocery stores

Like Comment Share

Honest Tea Hi Ben, we thought youd neverask. We have select 59 FL OZ varieties ofour teas available at Target and Whole Foodsnear you--perfect for a summer picnic orstoring in the fridge at home!

June 4 at 6:10am

Diana L Honest Tea

May 21

I won't be buying your products, or any of your

brands, until you stop fighting GMO labeling.

Like Comment Share

Honest Tea Hi Diana, happy to clarify,

Honest Tea is not fighting against transparent

labeling. If you pick up any of our beverages,

you'll find the "No GMOs" logo prominently

displayed. Simply stated: if there's an

ingredient sourced through biotechnology,we don't use it. Cheers!

May 22 at 6:13am

*Note: In addition to our No GMOs label on each bottle,

our teas are all certified organic. USDA regulations stipulate

that cropsincluding teaare not grown with genetically

modified organisms (GMOs), synthetic fertilizers, prohibited

pesticides, irradiation or sewage sludge.

From: Zach

To: [email protected]: Love what you're doing...I buy a bottle of Peach White Tea or Unsweetened

just about every day on my way to work. I love

what you guys are doing - keeping tea organic, fair

trade, and without GMOs. I honestly just wanted to

write an email to thank you. I do have one question.

Is your product available by the case or 6 pack?

From: Honest TeaTo: ZachSubject: Love what you're doing...

While most retailers sell our products in individual

bottles, cases sizes can always be special-ordered,and some stores (such as Whole Foods Markets)

will offer case discounts as well.

%INGREDIENTS 50%

AVAILABILITY 3.8%

PROMOTIONS 1.4%

COMPLIMENTS723 TOTAL%

HONEY GREEN TEA 12%

HALF TEA & HALF LEMONADE 6%

POMEGRANATE BLUE 6%

COMPLAINTS2,674 TOTAL

%INGREDIENTS 12%PRODUCT QUALITY 13%

PACKAGE QUALITY 11%

(NOT INCLUDING GMO LETTERS)

onnec

NOTE: We received many form letters regarding

current campaigns related to GMO labeling laws;

without including those 4,425 complaints, the

number of total complaints was 2,674.

*ORGANIC FOODS & BEVERAGES MARKET ANALYSIS,

GRAND VIEW RESEARCH, 2014;GROWTH PATTERNS, USDA, 2013

15
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/organic-foods-beverages-markethttp://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/organic-foods-beverages-markethttp://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2013-october/growth-patterns-in-the-us-organic-industry.aspx#.VE_PpovF_gAmailto:[email protected]://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2013-october/growth-patterns-in-the-us-organic-industry.aspx#.VE_PpovF_gAhttp://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/organic-foods-beverages-markethttp://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/organic-foods-beverages-market


15/24

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO SPREAD

OUR MESSAGE AND OUR MISSION

Our social media presence has continuedto grow. As of August 2014 we reachedover 452,000 Facebook fans and 29,400Twitter followers, up from 320,000 and19,000 in May 2013 (respectively).

Honest ComplimentA little appreciation can go a long way. Inspired by the power of expressing kindness, we launched

a movement to share Honest Compliments. Since June 2013 we have invited participantsnationwide to visit one of our Honest Compliment Booths and receive a genuine, one-of-a-

kind compliment. We have also taken our enthusiasm for positivity to the cybersphere, hosting

a Twitter celebration of National Compliment Day on January 24th. Over 3,600 compliments

were exchanged, as recipients spread the love to friends using #honestcompliment.

MY WELLNESS PLEDGE

Through social media, Honest Tea supportedindividuals in achieving their New Years

Resolutions. In the month of February, we

encouraged people to share their resolutions

online using #MyWellnessPledge and enter

for a chance to win a 30-day supply of

Honest Tea. Over 1,000 people posted their

resolutions via Twitter. Hopefully this helped

them to keep it top of mind and stick to it.


, ,

TWEETS

,MILLION

IMPRESSIONS

AN HOUR IN TWITTER

GIVING TUESDAY TWITTER PARTY

Each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving,

92nd St Y encourages people to celebrate

volunteering and giving back on GivingTuesday. On December 2nd (the day before

Giving Tuesday) Honest Tea, FoodCorps,

Applegate, Happy Family, Stonyeld, and

Earthbound Farms, joined by the United

Nations Foundation, held a Twitter party

and invited anyone passionate about

food. During the conversation, the hosts

and expert panelists shared meal ideas,

discussed locally-grown produce, and

encouraged attendees to donate to ourpartner FoodCorps on Giving Tuesday.

FANS FOLLOWERS

https://twitter.com/honestteahttps://www.facebook.com/HonestTea


16/24

UPCYCLED COOLERS & YOGA MATS

In partnership with Natural Grocers by

Vitamin Cottage, Honest Tea gave away 90

yoga mats and 80 bike cooler bags. The yoga

mats were made from sustainably harvested

rubber and the bike pannier coolers were

fashioned out of upcycled banners &

billboards and recycled plastic.

BIKE PROGRAM

Through various in-store competitions

across the country, including during Earth

Month, Honest Tea gave away over 770 bikes

this year.

PRODUCE BUNDLES

Our produce bundles were such a successlast year that we did it again! This year,

over 33,000 consumers redeemed coupons

to receive a discount when purchasing an

Honest Tea product with organic produce.

INDOSOLE

We partnered with Indosole for the second

year in a row to give away over 400 pairs

of Honest Tea branded shoes on college

campuses and in hospitals. Indosoles are

made by hand in Bali from repurposed

materials, including motorbike tires. To

date, Indosole has kept over 216,000 tires

out of Indonesian landlls.

A he SoreThrough the creativity and dedicationof our Marketing and Sales teams,consumers are able to interact with ourMission in the stores where they shop forour products.


EARTH MONTH &

NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

To celebrate Earth Month and to encouragepeople to get out and enjoy nature, we teamed

up with the National Park Foundation to

promote our mutual appreciation for the

environment on social media. We encouraged

people to take a sele outside and share it

using #ParkYourThirst. In doing so they were

automatically entered for a chance to win

an Annual Park Pass and a 30 day supply of

Honest Tea. We also jointly hosted a Twitter

Party, inviting participants to share personalstories illustrating what national park meant

to them. To culminate this partnership,

Honest Tea donated $25,000 to the National

Park Foundation to support their mission of

safeguarding Americas heritage and inspiring

future generations of national park enthusiasts.



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Hiting heSreesThrough experiential, educational,and fun interactions with people in thecommunities where we sell Honest Tea,we are able to share our products andcommunicate our Mission.

THE GREAT RECYCLE GROWS

By selling millions of single serve bottles

of Honest Tea, we generate a large amount

of packaging material. We are also aware

that national recycling rates hover around

30%, so much of what we produce will not

nd its way to recycling bins. In 2011 we

launched the interactive Great Recycle

campaign to improve national recycling

participation. Our eld tea-m has organized

more than a hundred events with giant bluebins in cities across the US, and at festivals,

retailers and campuses to educate people

about the importance and ease of recycling.

Participants are incentivized to redeem

their recyclable bottles in exchange for

great rewards like iPads and bikes. Between

ROCK THE LUNCHBOX

Honest Tea teamed up with severalpartners to help parents and kids Rock the

Lunchbox! Honest Tea and several brand

partners created a website for the program

with encouragement and tips for packing

fun, wholesome on-the-go lunches. As in

previous years, we gave away 30 reusable

lunch sacks containing lunch-appropriate

items from the brand partners.

April 2013 and April 2014 we collected over

210,000 containers, a 200% increase from

the same period a year earlier. This year we

also introduced two mini-bins in each of our

three regions to be able to hold more events

than ever before.

THE GREAT RECYCLE & TREES FOR

THE FUTURE

Trees for the Future, a Maryland-based

nonprot, shares our passion for strongecosystems. They are dedicated to planting

trees with rural communities in the

developing world, enabling them to restore

their environment, grow more food, and

build a sustainable future (trees.org). We

are working with Trees for the Future to

build on the positive environmental impact

of our Great Recycle events. Now, when

people bring their bottles and cans to recycle

in our big blue bins, they have the option to

redeem their recycling points for an Honest

Tea donation to Trees for the Future at a rate

equivalent to 1 point=$1=10 trees .


the great recycle HIGHLIGHTS:

2014EARTH DAY NYC

2014HANG OUT FESTIVAL

TOTAL APRIL 2012 OCT 2014

CONTAINERSCOLLECTED

,, ,

http://www.treesforthefuture.org/http://www.treesforthefuture.org/


18/24

NO MORE HYBRIDS

This year we switched our Honest eet to14 cargo vans. While this is a sad transition

from our formerly hybrid-powered eet, it

was a necessary move for the business. Our

old eet and the current hybrid options did

not have large enough cargo space, and would

have required almost double the trips to move

product and materials from point A to point B.

Well continue to explore alternative vehicle

options that can meet our teams needs.

SAMPLING CUPS

Last year we were excited to switch our tastingcups from a paper to a compostable plant-

based plastic resin. The clear plastic really let

the color and character of our beverages shine

through, especially for people unfamiliar with

them. Unfortunately, the new cups didnt stand

up to the grueling test of eld marketing and

melted in the heat! We made the decision to

switch back to a sturdier paper cup. The cups

are made from Forest Stewardship Council

Certied paper that is bleached withoutusing elemental chlorine, feature a US-grown

plant-based lining and can be composted in a

commercial facility (appropriate facilites may

not exist in all areas).

SWEETGREEN IN SCHOOLS

Sweetgreen in Schools works in D.C., MD,VA, and NYC to educate students about

wellness and healthy eating. For twenty

fourth graders, the curriculum culminated

in May at the Sweetlife Festival, where the

Honest Tea-m was on hand to teach a lesson

about edible plants. The students got to

touch and taste real tea leaves and sugarcane,

learning how many of the ingredients used

in products they see in stores everyday are

made from plants. For more information onsweetgreen, visit http://sweetgreen.com/.


424 ACTIVE EVENTS% 360 HEALTH EVENTS% 307 FOOD EVENTS 153 MUSIC EVENTS% % 135 COLLEGE EVENTS139 ECO EVENTS% %

Type of sampling Events , TOTAL EVENTS

http://sweetgreen.com/community/http://sweetgreen.com/community/


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SPREADING THE WORD

Throughout 2013 and 2014, Seth continued

to spread the Honest Tea story and Mission

across the country. Some of his speaking

engagements included:

American Wind Energy AssociationAnnual Conference

Social Enterprise AllianceAnnual Conference

Maryland University ofIntegrative Health

The 2014 Beverage Forum

Crop Life America NationalPolicy Conference

Net Impact Annual Conference

TEDx Mid-Atlantic

Business for Social Responsibility

Conference

PRODUCT/INKIND DONATIONS

O S SS O O 0

The National Honesty Index is our lighthearted social experiment to gauge the state of Americas

honesty. For 4 years running we have traveled around the country to see how people respond to

pop-up kiosks offering a bottle of tea for one dollar on the honor system. 2013 was our biggest

experiment yet. We visited all 50 states and Washington D.C. We were happy to discover that

overall, 92% of people in the U.S. still think honesty is the best policy. Those folks helped raise

$13,600 from the suggested $1 per bottle, which was all donated to FoodCorps.

, TOTAL CASES DONATEDIn 2013 Honest Tea donated over 3,300 cases

of Honest beverages. Some of the donation

recipients included:

,

With this donation, FoodCorps Service Members were able to....

new, localINGREDIENTSTO MENUS

WHO ADVOCATED TO BRING HEALTHIER

SCHOOL FOOD TO THEIR COMMUNITIES

,

TEACHhands-

on nutritionEDUCATIONACTIVITIESTO NEARLY

KIDS FROMLIMITEDRESOURCECOMMUNITIES

HELP SUPPORT

CHANGE IN SCHOOLCAFETERIAS BY

INTRODUCING

ADMINISTER

CAFETERIATASTETESTS

BUILD ORREVITALIZE

WITHfesh,garden PRODUCE

choolgardens

ENGAGE volunteers,

national honesty index

l
https://foodcorps.org/http://www.specialolympics.org/http://svn.org/https://www.wholekidsfoundation.org/http://www.greenamerica.org/http://www.cityyear.org/http://bethesdagreen.org/https://netimpact.org/


20/24

HeadquartersOur Mission starts from within the wallsof our Bethesda headquarters.

CERTIFIED GREEN BUSINESS

For the last few years, Honest Tea has

been a Montgomery County Certied

Green Business. This voluntary initiative of

Montgomery County Maryland emphasizes

the sustainability of company ofce space

and of day-to-day operations and policies.

Requirements include establishing waste

reduction and recycling policies, providing

recycling containers in the ofce, and

establishing green sourcing policies, among

others. For more information, visit http://

mcgreenbiz.org/.

UNITED STATES

HEALTHFUL FOOD COUNCIL

Through realigning the food industrys

incentives with consumers health interests,the non-prot United States Healthful Food

Council aims to ght diet-related disease.

The organization presents annual REAL

Food Innovator Awards to leaders in the

eld contributing to the production and

consumption of healthful and sustainable

food. In 2014, the inaugural year of this

award, Honest Teas TeaEO Seth Goldman

was recognized as an innovator in this eld,

specically for beverages.

PLANT WALL

Our headquarters is green in more waysthan one- we have lots of plants. Our newest

addition is a Florafelt vertical garden, which

is made from recycled PET bottles. Not

only is this technology upcycling plastic

drink bottles, but the plants it holds help to

improve air quality in the ofce and make

Honest Tea an even happier and healthier

place to work.

TREEFREE SUGAR CANE PAPER

The Bethesda ofce switched to TreeFrog

printer and copy paper. This paper is 100%

tree-free, so is not made from wood orrecycled paper, but from a sugarcane ber.

In terms of improving our sustainability

beyond reducing deforestation, were also

limiting the waste in the sugar industry by

productively using more of the sugarcane

plant (the source of one of our most

important ingredients). And its recyclable.

Given that this paper costs 12% more than

our current paper, we have set an ofce goal

of reducing our paper consumption by 12%.

AwardsWe think a little appreciation can go a longway. That is why we created our Honest to

the Core and Fire in the Belly awards over

7 years ago. Voted on by members of their

department, the winners are recognized at

our annual company meeting in November.

HONEST TO THE CORE

The employee receiving this award embodies

the core values that Honest Tea is built

upon: honesty, integrity, a commitment to

health and wellness, social responsibility

and a community partner both near and far.

4 employees across each of our geographic

regions are honored each year.

FIRE IN THE BELLY

This person has exhibited the following

qualities: determination, passion, drive,

ambition, and a true team member. 6

employees across each of our departments

are honored each year.

ultivae

http://mcgreenbiz.org/http://mcgreenbiz.org/http://ushfc.org/http://ushfc.org/http://ushfc.org/http://ushfc.org/http://mcgreenbiz.org/http://mcgreenbiz.org/


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EmployeesWe do what we can to support the well-being of our employees and encouragethem to live the Mission inside andoutside of the ofce.

Snack Packs:For the past several years, Honest Tea employees

have received a bag chock full of tasty goodies three times ayear. Beginning in June, we introduced snack packs 2.0!

Employees now receive gift cards to purchase their own healthy

snacks on the go.

happy anniversary

*NUMBERS BASED ON WORKANNIVERSARIES BASED ON JULY 1, 2014EMPLOYEESOVER 5 YEARSTENTURE

SINCE

EMPLOYEES

YOGA IN THE OFFICE

Occasionally the Honest Tea headquarters

becomes a Zen yoga studio. Employees are

invited to get their asana on at a business

casual class. It can be helpful to limber up inthe middle of the workday every now and then!

EMPLOYEE WELLNESS

Wellness Wednesdays: Every Wednesday,

employees are sent a weekly missive from

our very own Wellness Coach with advice

on health, tness and mental wellbeing.

A vegetarian with an enthusiasm for physical

activity, family time and just a tad sweet tea,

our TeaEO Seth makes health a lifestyle.

In the summer of 2013 we tried to see

what would happen if the rest of the tea-m

followed suit. Over 40 employees recorded

every Goldman-esque activity they engaged

in and were awarded points accordingly.



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local farms and in food pantries and soup

kitchens. In all, our volunteers supported 28

organizations across the country.

MLK DAY OF SERVICE

Honest Tea often participates in City Years

Martin Luther King Jr. Service Day. Last

January, several Bethesda-based employees

volunteered at Coolidge High School in

D.C. by helping to remove old furniture and

storage items to make way for the new.

EARTH MONTH SERVICE DAY

As part of the Montgomery County CorporateVolunteer Council Circle of Leadership, we

have worked throughout 2013 to engage

local businesses in service. We also hosted

an event of our own in honor of Earth Month.

In conjunction with Montgomery Parks, the

MC-CVCand Bethesda Green, we organized

a morning clearing invasive plants from 16

acres of nearby park land.

PLAYWORKS

Playworks believes in the power of play

to bring out the best in every kid. Well-

trained, enthusiastic volunteers partner

with low-income schools in urban areas

to foster independence & leadership and

teach conict resolution on the playground.

This year we supported Playworks D.C. by

elding a champion Rock Paper Scissorsteam at a benet tournament in March and

competing in a kickball round-robin charity

event against other local companies in June.

volunteeringGiving back to the communi-tea wherewe live and work is an important part

of our culture at Honest Tea.

ANNUAL HONEST SERVICE DAY

Every year in September the entire company

volunteers on the same day, nationwide.

This year, employees focused on the theme

of access to healthy food, volunteering at

http://www.cityyear.org/http://www.montgomeryparks.org/https://cvc-mc.org/http://bethesdagreen.org/http://www.playworks.org/http://www.playworks.org/http://bethesdagreen.org/https://cvc-mc.org/http://www.montgomeryparks.org/http://www.cityyear.org/


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,,

SERVINGS SOLD

,,

2007 2013

,

ANNUAL POUNDS OF ORGANIC INGREDIENTS PURCHASED

,,

,

ANNUAL FAIR TRADE PREMIUMS GENERATED

,

,

ANNUAL POUNDS OF FAIR TRADE INGREDIENTS PURCHASED

,NOTE: NUMBERS ARE FOR FULL CALENDAR YEAR

Accelerating ImpactHonest Tea crossed a major milestone in June of 2014: we sold our billionth beverage! Heres alook at our current impact, and how weve grown since just before The Coca-Cola Company rst

invested in Honest Tea in 2008.

refreshing factsSince Honest Tea was launched out of Sethskitchen in 1998, we put into market

VARIETIES FROM 1998 ARE STILLIN MARKET

OF THOSE VARIETIES,

(CONSISTS OF BOTTLED TEAS, TEA BAGS, JUICE DRINKS,

KOMBUCHA, A CACAOBASED DRINK, SODAS AND MOST

RECENTLY, LEMONADES AND A LIMEADE).

VARIETIES OF BEVERAGES

*ZEROCALORIE EITHER UNSWEETENED OR SWEETENEDWITH ORGANIC STEVIA

CERTIFIED

ORGANIC

FAIR TRADE

CERTIFIED

ZERO

CALORIE*

y the numbers:

HONEST TEA, INC.

4827 BETHESDA AVENUE BETHESDA MD 20814


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4827 BETHESDA AVENUE BETHESDA, MD 20814

800.865.4736 WWW.HONESTTEA.COM

@HONESTTEA FACEBOOK.COM/HONESTTEA
http://www.honesttea.com/https://twitter.com/honestteahttps://www.facebook.com/HonestTeahttps://twitter.com/honestteahttps://www.facebook.com/HonestTeahttps://www.facebook.com/HonestTeahttps://twitter.com/honestteahttp://www.honesttea.com/

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