300 SOURCING FARMERS

Social

Power Maw Shan sources its products from smallholder farmers in Pindaya and its surrounding areas. We work closely with farmers from 13 different villages providing them with training on sustainable cultivation, handpicking, pruning, and making of natural compost.

Power Maw Shan was the first company to receive the Fairtrade certification in Myanmar by committing of ethnicity growths and sustainability of business for farmers. Our mission has always been to process high quality of tea with certified products in cooperation with our more than 300 sourcing farmers.

“Our tea is more than a cup of tea as we proudly produce for our culture, ethnicity and the new generation.”

We have build up a fund to train farmers and set up nursery farms. We are supporting these tea nurseries by distributing free organic fertilizer bags. We also support the organic farmers by sharing with them good agricultural practices, providing organic fertilizers, and training on pruning and harvesting. We are strongly commited to CSR and the development of the local community in Pindaya. We support Pindaya tea farmers to improve tea growing practices.

1300 METERS

Environment

Most of our tea bushes are more than 60 years old and are located at more than 1,300 meters of altitude making our tea and ecosystem very special.

Our culture of tea production is conformable with the environmental sustainability because hand-picking does not require the use of machines to harvest the tea and there is no fuel involved in the harvesting process. Based on our culture, we use a hand-picking method on harvesting and handmade in tea making processes. Most of the farmers still work with traditional handmade processing and hand-picking methods, which are a perfect basis for sustainable production.

“We grow tea nurseries to supply our tea farmers in order to increase yielding of their farms and shading tree to prevent from climate change, and soil erosion.”

INTER-CROPPING

We practices the method of Inter-cropping systems in our tea farms which is growing ginger and tea in the same farms at the same time. Inter-cropping systems is not only the efficient use of resources such as water, sunlight and nitrogen but also increase soil fertility, prevent soil erosion and reduce the occurrence of diseases and insets.

Our company advocated BioTrade to protect our natural resources before it reaches devastation by planting shady trees and maintaining old tea trees which are around 200-800 aged tea tree. By practicing a waste control, we use rice husk as a biomass pellets and tea are dried by biomass dryer which is front-runner in Myanmar tea industry. This machine is safe from the deforestation and reduced the air pollution. As MAW SHAN organic tea are mainly dried by first ever biomass dryer, we benefit the environment such as reduce carbon dioxide.

FAIRTRADE

Economic

Power Maw Shan have strong relationships with organic farmers, we pay the sustainable price for fresh tea leaves growing. So, they don’t have to worry about their market and about their products won’t be able to sell. Smallholder farmers only need to practice the techniques/method of organic farms and produce by complying with policies of organic products.

In 2019, our German BioTrade buyer alone purchased 7 tones of Fair for Life and organic certified tea. The number of our organic farmers has now increased to 267 compared to 187.

We work for growing not only our farmers yearly income but also their awareness and knowledge of environmental ecosystem.

SUSTAINABILITY