Rakkasan Tea Company to Aid Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Conservation Efforts in Rwanda
June 20, 2018
Contact: hello@rakkasantea.com
In its mission to promote peace through economic development, RTC will raise funds and awareness for the Fossey Fund by donating a portion of its sales of Rwandan tea
Dallas, TX – Want to buy unique loose-leaf tea and help save gorillas? Now you can. Today veteran-owned Rakkasan Tea Company (RTC) announced it will work with The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to support conservation efforts in Rwanda while promoting the Rwandan tea industry.
The Fossey Fund has extensive programs in Rwanda to help save critically endangered mountain gorillas. Both conservation and the tea industry are cucial parts of Rwanda’s continued economic development.
“We encourage everyone to see and appreciate the enormous strides Rwanda has made and is making,” said RTC founder and CEO Brandon Friedman. “It’s a great country with a growing economy and it has a lot to offer Americans. By sharing the tea they grow and by helping to protect gorillas—a symbol of the country—we are playing a small part in Rwanda’s development and conservation strategy.”
For its part, RTC will donate $1 to the Fossey Fund for each canister of Rwandan tea it sells. This includes RTC’s Rukeri Black and Rukeri Green, both imported from Sorwathe, an estate responsible for the employment of 10,000 Rwandan farm workers in the region who produce Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified loose-leaf tea. The funds will be used to bolster conservation efforts for Rwanda’s mountain gorillas—which in turn supports the country’s economy through tourism dollars.
The Fossey Fund, in turn, will encourage U.S. consumers to buy Rwandan tea.
“We’re thrilled and honored to have Rakkasan Tea supporting gorilla conservation,” said Fossey Fund Board Member and retired U.S. Air Force officer David Singer. “The opportunities they provide to veterans here at home and to communities in countries like Rwanda is incredibly important.”
The work between the organizations will initially run through October 31, 2018 and could potentially extend well beyond that date.
About Rakkasan Tea Company
After launching with a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2017, veteran-owned RTC has brought thousands of Americans uncommon, hard-to-find loose-leaf tea grown solely in post-conflict countries.
In seven months of operation, RTC has shipped tea from Nepal, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Vietnam to customers in all 50 U.S. states and four countries. In November 2017, the Global Chamber® Dallas named RTC its “Startup Impact Importer of the Year.”
For its work, RTC has been featured in stories by The Dallas Morning News, Inc. Magazine, Fresh Cup Magazine, World Tea News, The Military Times, CBS Radio, Central Track and The Mercury.
More information: https://www.rakkasantea.com
About The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund is dedicated to protecting and studying gorillas and their habitats in Africa. The Fossey Fund operates the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda, founded by Dian Fossey in 1967 to conduct research and protection patrols of critically endangered mountain gorillas. The Fossey Fund also studies and protects endangered Grauer’s gorillas and their critically important forest habitat in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition, the Fossey Fund works to improve the lives of the human populations who live close to gorilla habitats, and is actively engaged in helping them become conservation leaders so that people and gorillas thrive together in sustainable forests. For more: gorillafund.org
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Rakkasan Tea Company promotes peace and economic development by importing and selling premium loose-leaf tea grown solely in post-conflict countries. Proudly veteran-owned.
