“We know it’s important to you. It’s important to us, too.”
At Melvins, our impact vision is to improve the lives of the people who produce our tea and to spur social and economic growth in our region through innovation, positive change, and conscious choices. We take our inspiration from the Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the United Nations. which encourage companies like ours in the private business sector to make contributions toward fundamental issues such as gender equality, decent work for all, environmental sustainability—and the overall betterment of human life across the globe.
Here are some of the ways Melvins does our part.
Mentorship Programme for Women in Manufacturing
Melvins believes that the more women are empowered, sit at the table, the more women sit at the table and advance our society. The good news is that women are more likely to be entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region in the world employing 115% more women than male-owned businesses, supporting gender equality in the workforce. However women entrepreneurs face bigger challenges than their male counterparts—including social norms, absence of peer networks, and lack of confidence to compete.
Our pioneering Melvins Mentorship Program, led by out Founder and CEO Flora Mutahi with other business growth experts, advises scalable early and seed stage ventures owned by women in the manufacturing sector—a traditionally male-dominated space. This helps the women gain insights to scale their business in the areas from supply chain management to customer acquisition, leadership skills, corporate governance, marketing skill and ways of building resistance and sustainability .
Where does Melvins tea come from?
Melvins chooses to buy our tea directly from a number of carefully selected factories in Kenya’s tea growing regions. Over years we’ve built close relationships with these factories and their management—monitoring, evaluating. We also give feedback. By knowing the conditions under which our tea is sourced, we’re able to ensure that our tea is produced with the highest quality standards and in line with the values, we believe in. Farmers, factory workers take great pride in Melvins Teas knowing that the fruits of their labor is served locally and internationally.
SOCIAL IMPACT
Youth Empowerment
Melvins also supports charity activities such as giving donations to schools in the effort of ensuring that the girl child gets a quality education. The focus on girls is important because it showcases that girls and women can succeed in industries that have previously been dominated by men. We also offer internships to young students and those who have just graduated to give them a glimpse into the working world helping to mould them into employees that will support organizations in the future.