Unilever Separates Tea Business to Form ekaterra To Accelerate Economic Growth & Sustainable Development Growth in The AMET Region

AMET headquarters and the manufacturing site strategically located in Jebel Ali, Dubai

March 21, 2022, Dubai, UAE – The company inaugurated the new office with the presence of chief guest, His Excellency Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism and led by ekaterra President, Abhiroop Chuckarbutty.

Unilever, recently announced the separation of its tea business as a standalone organization. The new tea company, now known as ekaterra, is built on strong foundations of leading brands – Lipton, PG Tips, Pukka, T2 and TAZO® – and a purpose-driven approach to its products, people, and communities. Within the region, ekaterra is well positioned in an attractive market to accelerate its future growth, and to lead the category’s sustainable development. A facility in Dubai will house both, a corporate head office for ekaterra’s Africa, Middle East & Turkey (AMET) region as well as a strategically positioned manufacturing complex, the Lipton Jebel Ali (LJA) factory.

With over 23 years of operations and huge direct investment in the UAE, this factory produces a variety of tea brands serving the region and which are exported across 50+ countries in 6 continents. The LJA factory is Unilever’s 1st carbon neutral site since 2019 and ekaterra remains keen on reducing the facility’s contribution to CO2 emissions in the region by shifting to the use of solar energy in the future. As the first factory in the UAE to achieve a ‘Zero-Waste-To-Landfill’ status as early as 2014, this new facility has been designed to ensure minimal environmental impact, supporting the UAE’s vision on sustainable development goals.

“As a single category business, we are committed to exploring new and better opportunities and fiercely executing them in our desire to make Lipton the preferred cup of tea in the region and more so in Arabia. The journey to maintain our leadership starts with the cup, hence, to further our commitment to consumer quality in the new facilities we have significantly enhanced our capabilities to plan, monitor and ensure only the best cup of tea is served to our consumers.” said Abhiroop Chuckarbutty – ekaterra President, AMET at the inauguration of Ekaterra Facilities. “Our people make ekaterra who it is, it is through our people and our brands that we will grow a world of wellbeing. We continue to remain committed to the safety of our people, having created 250+ jobs in the UAE and maintained a remarkable record of over 15 years in avoiding on-site accidents.”

As the market leader in tea, ekaterra recognizes the responsibility they hold as a major buyer and are continually working to make their supply chain more sustainable. This starts with helping to improve the lives of the people who pick their leaves and how they blend and package their products, through to the environmental impact tea production has on the planet.