NEMI Teas is a London-based social enterprise and specialist tea company that has successfully integrated a robust social mission into a high-growth business model. The company offers a range of premium, Organic tea blends to the foodservice sectors across the UK and Europe.
Our core mission is to empower refugees by providing them with crucial training, paid employment, and UK work experience, directly tackling the significant barriers to integration faced by this community. By creating a commercial vehicle for social good, we have proven that ethical sourcing, environmental responsibility, and direct social impact can drive market success.
The Challenge: The Refugee Employment Gap
Refugees in the UK face systemic barriers to securing meaningful employment, leading to an unemployment rate that often exceeds 70%—nearly 14 times the national average. Despite many refugees possessing high levels of experience and qualifications from their home countries, they are frequently rejected by UK employers due to a lack of local work history and professional references. This cycle prevents successful integration and self-sufficiency.
The Solution: A Tea Business with Direct Impact
Founded by Pranav Chopra in 2015, NEMI Teas was established with a singular focus: to break down the employment barriers for refugees. The business model is structured around a “direct impact” philosophy, where the core operation serves as the delivery mechanism for the social mission.
We operate a wholesale business, supplying high-quality tea products to major corporate clients (including PwC, EY, and Nationwide), hotels, restaurants, and cafes. Every tea sale directly funds refugee employment and training within the company.
Key elements of our model include:
- Direct Employment: Refugees are hired and placed on the payroll to gain experience in roles across the business, including packaging, warehousing, events, sales, and research.
- Professional Development: The company provides a professional UK reference and crucial job readiness skills, boosting English language abilities and confidence necessary for future job security.
3. Sustainable Reinvestment: We are structured to reinvest a significant portion of our profits back into expanding our mission and creating more employment opportunities.
Key Initiative: TRAMPOLINE Café
In response to the hospitality skills gap and the need for a dedicated training environment, we launched TRAMPOLINE Café in November 2022 (with a second location following in August 2024).
- Hospitality Training: TRAMPOLINE Cafés solely hire refugees, offering comprehensive training in all aspects of the hospitality sector.
- Integration and Transition: The cafés function as a temporary launch pad, providing trainees with a salary and a safe space to integrate into UK society before moving on to external full-time positions secured through employment partners.The Impact and ResultsWe have demonstrated significant social and commercial success:Refugee Employed and provided training to dozens of refugees across Empowerment the business and TRAMPOLINE Cafés.
| Metric | Outcome |
| Job Placement Rate | Successfully helped trainees secure long-term full-time or part- time employment in the UK workforce upon completion of their programme. |
| Business Growth | Company turnover rose from £144,000 in 2020 to £1.74 million in 2024, demonstrating the scalability of the social enterprise model within the foodservice supply chain. |
| Social Proof | Clients include some of the UK’s largest corporate and catering firms, who use NEMI Teas as a key component of their own sustainable and social procurement strategies. |
As one NEMI trainee noted, the job provided a salary that “changed my life… I had more freedom to travel, for the cost of living, and I was happy.”
Environmental & Ethical Sourcing
Our commitment to the planet is as fundamental as our social mission, making it a leading choice for sustainable procurement in foodservice:
- 100% Plastic-Free: All teabags, packaging, strings, and tags are fully compostable and plastic-free. The pyramid teabags are made from Polylactic Acid (PLA) mesh derived from non-GMO sugarcane.
- Certified Sourcing: All teas are sourced ethically and are Organic, Fairtrade, and Rainforest-Alliance Certified, ensuring farmers and workers are
compensated fairly and environmental standards are upheld in the supply
chain.
• Sustainable Packaging: Packaging uses NatureFlexTM films, based on
cellulose from renewable wood pulp, which is home-compostable and marine- degradable.
