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Company Response

8 Mar 2023

Ekaterra's response to allegations of sexual abuse on Kenyan tea plantations

Since July 2022, Unilever’s Kenyan tea estates have been owned by ekaterra Tea Kenya which is a subsidiary of ekaterra Global Operations B.V. ekaterra Tea Kenya does not manufacture tea under any brands. The produced tea is sold through auction. Lipton and PG Tips brands owned by ekaterra purchase tea from the auction....

Firstly, we would like to assure you that we do not tolerate any violence or abuse of people working across our organisation and are taking the allegations involved extremely seriously.

Upon becoming aware of the allegations we instantly suspended the individuals in question and launched a full independent inquiry using external investigators. We will ensure our follow-up actions are appropriately stringent. Both have now been reported to the Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Company is fully cooperating with Law Enforcement Authorities as they carry out independent investigations. The two mangers subsequently resigned and have since have been barred for life from all Company premises.

The Company will support the impacted women who, the investigation will identify, through the established facilities, including by providing psychosocial support and medical care as well as legal support and representation.

[Full response attached]

This is a response to

True cost of our tea: Sexual abuse on Kenyan tea farms revealed

Story 20 Feb 2023

Teapickers kericho

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