T2 TEA
“ Being a B Corp means we ’ re part of a global movement intent on redefining success in business by challenging ourselves to be the best in the world ”
GABRIEL EYTAN HEAD OF SUPPLY CHAIN , T2 TEA
T2 also has numerous routes-tocustomers . It sells through bricks-andmortar stores ( with which Australians will be very familiar ), but also has an online presence , as well as a wholesale trade that is split between out-of-home channels , grocery , and resellers of all descriptions .
Like many supply chain chiefs , Eytan has an engineering background .
“ Engineering is a good way into supply chain , because both disciplines are about problem solving ,” he says . “ I ’ m yet to see a supply chain that does not have problems .”
The long lead-times of tea ‘ make life difficult ’ Eytan says T2 ’ s biggest supply chain headache is lead times .
“ Tea is an agricultural product so it ’ s contingent on climate ,” he says . “ Last year we had the heatwave in China , which impacted some of the products we source from there that we use in our blends .”
He says that geopolitical unrest is another cause of disruption .
“ You have wars in different parts of the world , such as Ukraine and Somalia , and now we have the shipping crisis in the Red Sea ,” he adds that such factors “ make for very long lead times and this affects our reactivity to our markets ”.
Such global volatility combined withlong lead times means inventory management is of critical operational importance .
“ Managing inventory is difficult , I won ’ t lie to you ,” Eytan says . “ Because of the extraordinarily long lead times , we ’ ve got some very high levels of inventories .”
Expanding on this , he points out that “ in FMCG you might be sitting on weeks of stock , whereas we can take months of stock ”. This , he says , “ is an entirely different scale of inventory holding ”.
Eytan adds : “ This is why we work closely with our partners . Before we even talk about the shipping element , or any shipping issues , we will maybe look to take on a brand-new customer who is appreciably bigger so able to take a lot more stock .
“ There ’ s an enormous amount of work that goes into working with our suppliers , because this helps us be reactive , but in an intelligent way .”
And because its supply chain is truly global , T2 has great exposure to shipping problems .
“ Most of our suppliers are half-way around the world , so we need to understand how they ’ re getting impacted by shipping issues that will delay our production ,” Eytan says . sustainabilitymag . com 229