Location Location Location- The commodity behind distribution and production

Red Rose Teas can be traced from their origin in the tea estates of the higher altitudes all the way to their packaging and distribution centers at Unilever USA and finally to Unilever bases in Chile, Canada and other areas. From Unilever Chile they are then transported to Trinidad and distributed among the major groceries such as Hilo, Tru-Value and X-tra Foods.

I have outlined the production systems in a previous post. It must be noted that most of the employment is provided to locals, but the money the company earns is outsourced to its parent in the US. Still, UTK has shown that some form of sustainable production can be done to benefit the areas where the commodity is based.

With respect to distribution and sale, the majority of the market is still based in Canada and the United States, though the Caribbean is a developing market over the years. It is interesting that while the majority of the tea-making process is done in the tea estates, the final blending and packaging is conducted in the US and Canada, meaning that the majority of the funds are recuperated there.