Impactful Stories #3: NEMI Teas
We had the chance to sit down with Kasia Cheng, operations executive and NEMI Teas to talk about all things impact. Read on to find out more about their business model, employing refugees to gain some much needed work experience in the UK whilst also selling delicious, planet friendly tea. As ever, we hope that these stories show you that every business can be better for people and the planet and be commercially successful.
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Could you tell us about NEMI Teas and your mission?
We are a specialist London-based tea company that offers a variety of whole-leaf tea blends, both as loose-tea and tea bags and a Chai Syrup. As a sustainable brand, all our products are fair-trade, organic and plastic-free. We also employ refugees to give them local work experience to help them enter the UK workforce.
Can you talk about what inspired NEMI Teas?
The idea for NEMI actually came out of a supper club. During one of the meals, Pranav, NEMI’s founder, met Anwar and Mohammed, two refugees from Sudan. They got chatting and ended up talking about what it was like to be a refugee in the UK. Despite getting their refugee status (which gave them a right to work), they were struggling to get employment. Time and time again, employers told them that they didn’t have any local work experience.
That’s when the idea came to Pranav of setting up an organisation which solely employed refugees, no questions asked. This would help them gain local work experience that they much needed to get onto the job ladder as well as act as their referee to vouch for them to remove any hurdles they may face in securing a job.
Why is social and environmental impact so important to you at NEMI Teas?
Our team has a real belief in the power of business for good. Today’s world is driven, in a large part, by business. We can debate whether this should be the case, but it’s simply the state of play. In a world where we are fighting climate breakdown and ostracising victims of war, there is an urgent need to act. If we want to affect change now, we need to leverage the powerful mechanisms that are already in place — like business.
What has been the impact of some of these projects and initiatives? What are you most proud of?
Since we started four years ago, NEMI Teas has sold over 7 million teabags and supported 18 refugees into employment and further education. Without a doubt, we’re proudest of the latter. It’s been a hugely exciting journey to go on and see our hires find their feet and build their lives in the UK.
What are the biggest challenges when trying to develop and embed these commitments into the business?
Balancing business and impact is a big challenge. Without sales, we’re not able to support our beneficiaries, so it’s easy to be lured into focusing only on the commercial side of things. For us, consistently being in touch with our beneficiaries has been a great anchor for our impact. It brings us back to our mission and reminds us that we’re not working on something abstract, but very real indeed.
What advice would you give to other businesses who are curious about increasing their positive impact on their people, communities and the environment?
Speak to your beneficiaries and stakeholders. It’s easy to approach big, abstract problems like homelessness and refugee unemployment with a lot of preconceptions and assumptions that aren’t necessarily true. Without speaking to Anwar and Mohammad, Pranav never would have known that local work experience was so important for them. That was the golden nugget that started NEMI, and it came from listening to those with lived experience.
Where can we buy some tea and find out more about the work you’re doing?
If you check out our website, you’ll find our online shop and as well as the cafes that stock our tea. We’re also a supplier for LEON, so you can now grab a cup of NEMI tea with your next takeout! You can stay in the loop by following us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.
Thanks for reading! If you’d like to uncover your impact ambitions, we’d love to help you. Book a free 30 min consultation call with one of the Impactful team now.
