As a buyer of organic and biodynamic/ fairtrade products I was interested to see the article on tea and coffee and would draw your attention to Hampstead Tea and Coffee Co. They represent Makaibari (Corn field) Tea Company and you can clearly not realise there is noone on earth who grows tea and looks after the environment like Raja Bannerjee. Having visited myself and spent 10 days there several years ago I was moved to tears on several occasions by this man’s vision and generosity. His tea garden is like no other – it’s a wildflower paradise with tea, not a sterile desert with tea bushes. His land is natural - nothing removed, trees grow, shrubs grow, the soil is rich, deep humus, the land abounds with insects and birds. It is paradise on Earth, not like so many other tea gardens - and I saw about 300 so I can say that I inspected many of them. This man deserves much more from Ethical Consumer - he is a saint! When I met Raja I realised how insignificant I was, he inspires me every time I think of what he’s achieved and continues to achieve, under difficult conditions. His people love him, he cares so much for the jungle and the gardens. You only have to go 100 yards away from his property to see tea gardens’ conventional style, where people have no respect and treat parts of the gardens as rubbish tips. Workers burn the dead wood, there’s no composting, no prepping, its like a desert, landslips take place and whole mountains have been washed away. But Rajah preserves this idyllic working paradise and it should be known and we should support him.

He employs rangers from his village and they protect the jungle, they log animal and bird sightings and behaviour and have weekly meetings. The staff are like his big family. There is no tea like it, growing on beautiful hills overlooking vast mountain ranges. Please realise ethical buyers everywhere Makaibari is the tops for me and I shall support him and his wonderful work until I leave this business. Every villager has heat provided by methane from cow dung, piped into their home. I met many of the workers and saw beautiful homes built in and around the jungle. Fair Trade has never been fairer in my opinion.

Rex Tyler, Berkhamsted, Herts.