Why I'm involved
An article by Alistair Pask, Ph.D., Founder of Reforest and Director of Reforest Tea. Reforest has supported the work of the International Tree Foundation in sub-Saharan Africa since mid-2019. This article describes his journey from 2015 to the present day. Our story
Reforest is an organisation dedicated to increasing the number of trees and forested area worldwide. Reforest Tea is our social business selling award-winning ethically sourced teas.
In 2015, I took some time off work and travelled to Guatemala. The name “Guatemala” comes from the indigenous Náhuatl word meaning “land of many trees”, so it seemed like an obvious place to start. I arrived in the highland city of Quetzaltenango and made contact with a non-profit there, the “Proyecto de Reforestación Chico Mendes”, and started volunteering in their native tree nursery.
After a few days it was obvious that the project was limited by finances and, more generally, that this was the limiting factor for most such projects. Tree-planting and forest conservation work is expensive: if one tree costs a dollar or two to plant, then a million trees is going to cost one or two million dollars. Conversely, I viewed this as an opportunity: the more funds available, the more trees it would be possible to plant and the more forest to conserve.
Our position as an organisation would be to support the many projects around the world which already have the expert local knowledge and understanding, and access to land and labour, but which are limited by funding. Quickly moving past the “grant” and “donation” models, I decided to focus on starting a social business: something connected to trees and forests, something that supported sustainable jobs in the developing world, and –most importantly– something that people wanted to buy.
Why we’re different.
At Reforest Tea, our story is very simple: we sell great teas and use all the profits to plant trees and conserve forests. A simplicity which is fundamental to our business model. Our business success is measured in our impact –to make the world a better place– and not through status or money. We believe that this sets Reforest Tea apart from other companies.
People who buy our teas are not just our customers, they are also our supporters. For them, Reforest Tea is more than just another good cup of tea; when they drink our tea they become part of our mission. Our customers believe in what we are doing and like to tell other people about our company and our mission in a way that no other tea company’s customers would ever do.
Not only that, Reforest Teas really are really good – in fact they are winning awards against other leading brands. Premium quality, ethically sourced, fairly traded, plastic-free, blended and manufactured in England, Great Taste 2020 award-winning and served and enjoyed throughout Cambridge. Our teas are a product that anyone can enjoy, and they connect our customers to a story, a mission and a movement that anyone can join.