Port of Tyne steeps Tetley partnership with commitment to 90% of brand's transport activities

A global tea brand has announced that it has chosen the Port of Tyne for a long term strategic import contract.

Tetley Tea, which is the second largest tea brand in the world, has confirmed that it will outsource all its inbound tea production and finished goods exports to the Port of Tyne.

Tetley has worked with the Port of Tyne since 2003, and is now committing further to the port, which will account for 90 per cent of its inbound and outbound transportation activities.

The port will ship products to international markets including Asia, Europe, Canada and America, with the contract covering the movement of thousands of tonnes of raw tea plus finished products each year.

Richard Newton, commercial director for logistics at the Port of Tyne, commented: “Retaining the custom of a mega brand like Tetley for over 20 years wouldn’t be possible if we were not able to precisely meet their requirements and we have demonstrated our effectiveness in doing this for almost 20 years.

“It is a perfect example of the long term, strategic commercial logistics partnerships we want to foster at the Port of Tyne.”

David Cook, group logistics manager at Tetley, said: “When it comes to working with the Port of Tyne logistics team, what continues to impress us is their eternal commitment to service improvement and excellence.

“The Covid pandemic provides a perfect example and during this extreme period, they immediately rose to all challenges presented and ensured our global supply chain was not only resilient, but could scale to cope with extra product demand.”