Twinings

Twinings was founded by Thomas Twining, of Painswick, Gloucestershire, England, who opened Britain's first known tea room, at No. 216 Strand, London, in 1706; it still operates today.Phillips-Evans, James (2012) The Longcrofts: 500 Years of a British Family, Amazon, pp. 244–245{{cite web |title=Twining & Co. |url=https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/Our-Group/our-heritage/our-history/lloyds-bank/twining--co/ |website=Lloyds Banking Group |access-date=3 June 2019 |archive-date=3 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603162857/https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/Our-Group/our-heritage/our-history/lloyds-bank/twining--co/ |url-status=live }} The firm's logo, created in 1787, is the world's oldest in continuous use.{{Cite web|url=https://www.twinings.co.uk/about-twinings/history-of-twinings|title=History of the Twinings Tea Company|publisher=Twinings|access-date=13 February 2018|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121025741/https://www.twinings.co.uk/about-twinings/history-of-twinings|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last=Standage|first=Tom|title=A history of the world in six glasses|year=2005|publisher=Walker|location=New York|page=202|author-link=Tom Standage}}

Holder of a royal warrant, Twinings was acquired by Associated British Foods in 1964.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ra2jAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA4-PA58 |title=The Tea Industry |last=Hall |first=Nick |publisher=Woodhead Publishing Ltd. |page=58 |date=2 June 2000 |isbn=9781845699222 |access-date=10 October 2019 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024005531/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ra2jAgAAQBAJ&pg=RA4-PA58#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} The company is associated with Earl Grey tea, a tea infused with bergamot, though it is unclear when this association began, and how important the company's involvement with the tea has been. Competitor Jacksons of Piccadilly – acquired by Twinings during the 1990s – is also associated with the bergamot blend.{{cite web |url=http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/earlgreytea.htm |title=The Foods of England – Earl Grey Tea |author=Glyn Hughes |work=foodsofengland.co.uk |access-date=20 September 2013 |archive-date=20 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120192340/http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/earlgreytea.htm |url-status=live }}

In April 2008, Twinings announced its decision to close its Belfast Nambarrie plant, a tea company in trade for over 140 years.{{cite web |url=http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=74242 |title=Tea Time Over For Nambarrie |access-date=17 January 2009 |publisher=4NI.co.uk Northern Ireland News |date=11 April 2008 |location=Northern Ireland |quote=One of Northern Ireland's top teas – and a favourite in Scotland too – is no longer to be packed in central Belfast. |archive-date=5 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605041650/http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=74242 |url-status=live }} Citing an "efficiency drive", Twinings moved most of its production to China and Poland in late 2011, while retaining its Andover, Hampshire factory with a reduced workforce.{{cite news |date=6 September 2010 |title=Twinings to leave Britain for Poland |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7982817/Twinings-to-leave-Britain-for-Poland.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823024340/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7982817/Twinings-to-leave-Britain-for-Poland.html |archive-date=23 August 2022 |access-date=10 October 2019 |work=The Telegraph}}

In 2023, Twinings ceased production of lapsang souchong, replacing it with a product called "Distinctively Smoky", widely considered to be inferior quality.{{cite news |last1=Barton |first1=Alex |title=Where to get your Lapsang (now Twinings has ruined theirs) |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/lapsang-souchong-twinings-cigarettes-ruined/ |access-date=7 December 2023 |work=The Spectator |date=26 April 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180734/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/lapsang-souchong-twinings-cigarettes-ruined/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Tea fans splutter as Churchill favourite cuppa replaced with 'stale cigarettes' blend |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lapsang-souchong-twinings-tea-replaced-b2325542.html |access-date=7 December 2023 |work=The Independent |date=24 April 2023 |language=en |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180752/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lapsang-souchong-twinings-tea-replaced-b2325542.html |url-status=live }} Lapsang souchong was one of the tea blends sold by Twinings since the 1700s{{Cite book |last=Twining |first=Stephen |title=The House of Twining 1706-1956 |publisher=R. Twining & Co. LTD |year=1956 |location=London}} and was regarded as the favourite drink of Winston Churchill.{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Michael |title='Like stale cigarettes' – tea lovers in uproar at lapsang souchong alternative |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/23/twinings-lapsang-souchong-alternative/ |access-date=7 December 2023 |work=The Telegraph |date=23 April 2023 |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207180759/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/23/twinings-lapsang-souchong-alternative/ |url-status=live }} Twinings cited difficulty sourcing the blend along with rising market prices for the substitution.{{Cite news |last=Steafel |first=Eleanor |date=25 April 2023 |title=What's behind the Twinings lapsang shortage and how can you still get it? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/twinings-lapsang-souchong-banned-discontinued-uk/ |access-date=2 April 2024 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}

File:Twining's tricycle.jpg

Twinings' ethical tea programme, Sourced with Care, aims to improve the quality of life in the communities from which it buys tea.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sourcedwithcare.com/|title=Home {{!}} Twinings Sourced With Care|website=www.sourcedwithcare.com|access-date=12 February 2018|archive-date=3 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603001300/https://www.sourcedwithcare.com/en|url-status=live}} The company is a founding member of the Ethical Tea Partnership,{{cite web|url=http://www.ethicalteapartnership.com/|title=Ethical Tea Partnership – Working for a Responsible Tea Industry|location=United Kingdom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905143557/http://www.ethicalteapartnership.com/|archive-date=5 September 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=17 January 2009}} a not-for-profit membership organisation of tea-packing companies which undertake monitoring and improving conditions on tea estates in all major tea-growing regions.{{cite web|url=http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/drink/tea.aspx|title=Ethical shopping guide to Tea|date=December 2013|work=Ethical Consumer|access-date=20 July 2017|archive-date=14 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914171146/http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/drink/tea.aspx|url-status=live}} Twinings has an Ethical Code of Conduct{{cite web|url=http://twinings.co.uk/media/173171/two_code_of_conduct.pdf|title=Twinings Ovaltine Code of Conduct|date=27 March 2012|publisher=Twinings.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425004818/http://twinings.co.uk/media/173171/two_code_of_conduct.pdf|archive-date=25 April 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=2 January 2013}} and works with all its packaging and raw material suppliers to ensure decent working conditions in the supply chain.{{cite web|url=http://www.abf.co.uk/investorrelations/annual_report_2012/corporate_responsibility1|title=Associated British Foods: Corporate responsibility|access-date=3 January 2013|archive-date=25 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725053424/http://www.abf.co.uk/investorrelations/annual_report_2012/corporate_responsibility1|url-status=dead}}

In August 2018, Twinings published a list of all its tea suppliers in India on its Sourced with Care website. This came after Traidcraft Exchange called on all the major UK tea brands to show the public which tea plantations they buy from and crack down on modern slavery in the supply chain. Traidcraft Exchange welcomed the move, their policy adviser, Fiona Gooch, saying that it would put "pressure on the other big tea brands ... to follow suit".{{cite web |last1=Selwood |first1=Daniel |title=Twinings publishes full list of its tea suppliers in India |url=https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/buying-and-supplying/sourcing/twinings-publishes-full-list-of-its-tea-suppliers-in-india/570498.article |website=The Grocer |access-date=17 November 2018 |archive-date=28 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228075910/https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/buying-and-supplying/sourcing/twinings-publishes-full-list-of-its-tea-suppliers-in-india/570498.article |url-status=live }}

• Thomas Twining (1675–1741), tea merchant, Twinings founder
• Mary Twining (1726–1804), tea merchant, mother of Richard Twining
• Thomas Twining (1735–1804), classical scholar
• Richard Twining (1749–1824), tea merchant
• William Twining (1790–1835), military physician
• Elizabeth Twining (1805–1889), botanical illustrator
• Louisa Twining (1820–1912), social reformer
• Edward Twining (1899–1967), diplomat

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• Brooke Bond
• Lipton
• PG Tips
• Tata Tea
• Tea
• Tetley
• Typhoo tea
• Yorkshire Tea
• BOH Tea

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• {{Official website|url=https://twinings.co.uk}} {{In lang|en-GB}}
• {{Official website|url=https://twinings.ca}} {{In lang|en-CA|fr-CA}}
• {{Official website|url=https://twiningsusa.com}} {{In lang|en-US}}
• {{Official website|url=https://twinings.com.au}} {{In lang|en-AU}}
• {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311070210/http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=23868,1,22|title=Interview with Stephen Twining (September 2006) The Citizen, South Africa}}

{{British Royal Warrant holders}}

Category:1706 establishments in England

Category:Andover, Hampshire

Category:Tea brands in the United Kingdom

Category:Companies based in Hampshire

Category:British royal warrant holders

Category:Associated British Foods brands

Category:Companies established in 1706

Category:Twining family

Category:Strand, London