Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/831276
STiR coffee and tea 39 E DETHLEFSEN & BALK Your competent partner for: Tea Coffee Accessories Confiserie Enjoy the advantages of using an all-in-one supplier with a selection of more than 600 standardised tea varieties, 50 manufactory coffee qualities, an exclusive confiserie assortment and a world-wide leading range of accessories. Visit us at the WORLD TEA EXPO June 12-15, 2017 in Las Vegas, D&B Booth: #823 Dethlefsen & Balk GmbH Hermann-Wüsthof-Ring 16 21035 Hamburg Germany Phone: ++49 (0)40 73 10 73-0 office@db-hh.de www.dethlefsen-balk.de Dethlefsen & Balk Inc. 1005 N. Commons Dr. Aurora, IL 40506 USA Phone: 001-(630)-851-8549 info@dethlefsen-balk.us www.dethlefsen-balk.us Pluckers at Emrok's Ogirgir Estate in Kenya's Nandi Hills The Emrok community The gold medal received by Emrok in 2015 for best social sustainability initiative highlighted the concern the Keters have for the local community. There is an energetic football team that regularly plays against neighboring communities. And the estate runs a crèche, and the Ngererit Primary School for 4- to 12-year-olds. When the Keters took over the estate, the wood and corrugated iron school building was in a sorry state and Robert, who had himself attended the school as a child, dreamt of providing better facilities. So, with profits from sales of tea and private donations, enough money was raised to build a new school which opened in 2011 for the 400 students, an equal mix of girls and boys. d school had a problem keeping up to date with all the books it needed for teachers and pupils and so, Emrok partnered with Worldreader, a digital ebook system, to provide a solution. Elec- tronic tablets (ereaders) which can be loaded with 100 books selected from a digital library of 40,000 books and training materials in 43 languages, and can be constantly updated were purchased with donations totaling $20,000. The long-term goal is to provide every child with a dedicated World ereader. The school also has computers, helps fund extra tuition for those who need it, and (be- cause the state offers no support) pays school fees for secondary education. And education continues out in the nearby farms to ensure that tea farmers follow best agricultural practices. The community also has a SACCO (savings and credit co-operative society) which is run like a bank into which workers can pay their savings. This system of licensed saving was established in Africa in the 1970s with the objective of uplifting members' social economic wellbeing and to offer banking services to its members. Because Em- rok is situated within an export processing zone (EPZ), there are tax incentives for the company and savings are channeled into a SACCO for the benefit of the workers. This allows them to make real gains by better utilizing their land in new proj- ects such as the cultivation of herbs and fruits that can be sold back to the factory for use in tea blends, dairy farming, and chicken rearing. As well as providing financial support, SACCO connects growers and farmers with buyers so that the in- dividual families increase their earnings in a long- term sustainable way. Emrok is more than just a tea estate. It was planned and established by the Keters with effi- ciency, quality, sustainability, and profitability in mind, with the intention of manufacturing quality specialty teas, but also with the goal of giving em- ployees and the local smallholder farmers a better life in the future.