Harney & Sons - Plant-Based Material Sachets Update

At the Harney & Sons production facility, there has been made good progress in the transition to replacing the nylon material for the teas packaged in sachets. The Harney family is pleased to say that 92.5% (Updated 1/31/24) of the sachets are now using a sugarcane based material.

The list of teas that we offer on our website that have still not been switched to sugarcane material:

Hot Cinnamon Spice and its variations
Chamomile, Yellow and Blue, Peppermint, Organic Turmeric and Ginger
Organic Green with Citrus & Ginkgo
White Peach Matcha, Matcha Iri Genmaicha

Harney & Sons are still trying to figure out how to switch these remaining blends over and they hope that in a few months they will be at 100% sugarcane sachet production.

The plant-based material comes from sugarcane grown in Thailand. The sugarcane is fermented and bacteria eats the fermented sugar making lactic acid which is converted into a fiber that creates the mesh that holds in the tea but allows the liquid tea to flow to you. So all sugar is converted and none remains in your sachets material, making it safe for diabetics and those concerned with sugar intake.

There are no petrochemicals and no genetically modified organisms (non-GMO) because the material comes from sugarcane.

The sugarcane sachets are compostable commercially, under strict conditions, not usually found in your home. This material needs more heat than a home compost pile can provide, in order to breed enough bacteria to digest it. Harney & Sons have commissioned a study with the Cary Institute to see if this probelm can be solved.

**Update** Harney & Sons had a meeting with the scientists doing the compostability study at the Cary Institute of EcoSystems Studies. The study was done replicating a backyard compost pile. The control was a wooden popsicle stick. The last report showed some start of degradation of the sugarcane sachets. The string was gone, and some vegetation had broken through the sachets. The control: the popsicle stock was close to intact. Even wood does not compost in a year. There is some progress - we will see what another summer does.

Please note that if you insist on composting these sachets, please cut up your sachet prior to composting.

Harney & Sons will work to make it easy to compost at home.