As tea trees, spices and plants grow around our assembly workshop, the seeds of the future are being planted at FBKT: our Plantation project has finally been launched! After 5 years of fruitful development of our artisanal brand, FBKT-La Plantation is the result of a global reflection on the future of our company; a future that combines short circuits, reappropriation of our territory and above all the desire to do better for the planet.
Reaffirming our values, investing for the future.
Since our creation in 2016, we have been working to continuously improve our environmental and social best practices:
We reuse and recycle all our cardboard/paper packaging. e have also launched an overhaul of all our packaging to make it 100% recyclable and Made in France by summer 2021.
Ous pyramids are made of PLA (corn starch) guaranteed without bioplastics, 100% recyclable and compostable, with no glue or staples.
In 2019, we set up short-circuit framework contracts with small producers in France (20% Drôme Valley, Languedoc), Europe (40%) and outside the EEC (40%, teas, tropical plants, exotic fruit, etc):
We work, for example, with a cooperative of 13 organic family farms in Albania (Cornflowers, Marigolds, Mallows, Poppies) as well as with an independent producer of various high quality thymes and verbena in Portugal.
Our producer in Madagascar has set up an artisanal dryer in a village as part of an organic project run by an NGO. No s works in partnership with other craftsmen and also with professional customers who share our values: coffee roasters, chocolate makers, etc.
Almost all our raw materials are purchased organically (our workshop is Ecocert certified) and all our teas/infusions are 100% natural, with no synthetic ingredients.
Relocate production and work in short circuits!
Even so, as a tea and infusion blender, we are fully aware that our weak point remains our carbon footprint, which is obviously significant in this business. We can’t pretend that we can do without our tea producers in China, Japan and India, with their specific terroirs and ancestral know-how.
But we can at least make a long-term commitment and investment for the better, to further reduce the impact of our business on the environment.
The FBKT plantation: an ecological approach AND a human adventure
This project was born out of a desire to relocate some of our raw material purchases, giving priority to in-house production.
FBKT La Plantation is structured around 4 activities:
- Planting teas, aromatic and medicinal plants, spices and fruit trees.
- Drying, processing and cutting these plants.
These two areas will enable us to control part of our supply of the raw materials used in our traditional tea and infusion recipes.
- This is an ecotourism project designed to reacquaint people with the knowledge of aromatic and medicinal plants and to help promote our region.
- We’re also launching an organic vegetable garden to provide organic fruit and vegetables for the families in the FBKT team!
The plantation will be spread over 2 sections:
- A 6,000 m2 conservatory for plant acclimatisation and reproduction
- A production area of 2.2 hectares in 2021, rising to 5 hectares in 2022.
While the first harvests and the first drying and cutting tests are scheduled for late summer 2021, the project is set to run for several years, with a ramp-up in production, particularly of tea bushes, expected within 3 or 4 years.
The FBKT LA PLANTATION project is co-financed by the EUROPEAN UNION as part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and by the MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD as part of the FRANCE RELANCE plan:
