The Luponde Tea Estate is one of the oldest organic tea estates in the world and the climate is perfect for growing tender leaves and flowers which are handpicked, bringing you the highest quality single estate teas. The estate is situated in the Livingstonia Mountains in Southern Tanzania and at an altitude of 7,000 feet. Tea was first planted on the estate in 1954 and today covers 2,212 hectares. There are 730 hectares of planted tea, of which 401 are organic and there are currently 20 hectares of herbal plants. The estate produces on average 2 million kilograms of black tea a year and the majority of this is tea bag grade. The Luponde estate is the only steady source of income for the people who live in this area and in peak season 80 kilograms of wet leaf will be picked per day by one person.
Luponde Co. collaborated with the estate to turn some of the disused areas back to indigenous forest. By planting 30,000 trees, we hope to counterbalance our use of paper and card for gift wrapping.

**All images from Creative Commons. Specific Authors: David Bote Estrada, Kristina D.C Hoeppner, Romain Guy.