A tea section planted with new shade trees
The Camellia Duncan Foundation hospital
Students at the Camellia Duncan Foundation school

Sustainability

People and the environment play a significant role in our corporate policy.

Our approach

Duncan Brothers is a commercial organisation, however people and the environment play a significant role in its corporate policy. We work to improve the quality of our products and our productivity and to be cost efficient, with a focus on our employees and their welfare. The welfare of society in general, of the local communities where we do business and of the environment in which we operate also forms an integral part of corporate policy.

The Group has established the Camellia Duncan Foundation, setting aside funds from its operational income, to manage its welfare initiatives.

17,500workers covered by Primary Health Care (with 65,000 dependents)
50beds at the Camellia Duncan Foundation Hospital
3,250students in garden-run and aided primary schools
742lives saved by Yasser Life Guard at Cox's Bazar

People and communities

Community clinic

Primary Health Care

Launched in 1989, the first programme of its kind in the private sector, now covering all 16 tea estates.

The orchid garden

Orchid Project

Orchids grown at Shahbazpur to help finance the Foundation's charitable work.

Yasser Life Guard

A life-saving service on the Cox's Bazar beach, the first of its kind in the country.

Environment

Water

Drinking water is supplied through piped water, hand tube wells and wells. Where needed, water is purified or disinfected before use, and rain water and groundwater are primarily used for cultivation.

A tea section planted with new shade trees

Conservation

Afforestation, rain-water storage in lakes and ponds, and awareness programmes among garden residents about avoiding waste.

Energy

Energy-efficient technology in tea production, energy-saving bulbs in all factories and accommodation, and efficient cooking stoves that cut firewood use.

Geo-diversity

Care for the soil so that fertiliser and pesticide use does not upset the natural ecology; certain lands are used for rubber, afforestation and soil-enrichment programmes.

Certifications, standards and awards

As stated on our existing website. Certificate details are kept up to date by the Company Secretary.

  • ISO 22000:2005

    Duncan Brothers tea gardens and factories

    All the Group's gardens and factories are certified for plantation and cultivation, processing and manufacturing, blending and packing, office management, quality assurance, and the sale and marketing of tea.

  • ISO 22000

    Duncan Products Ltd.

    Natural mineral water produced and bottled at the Dhaka and Chittagong plants.

  • IBWA membership

    International Bottled Water Association

    Duncan Products is the only company in Bangladesh that is a member of the IBWA.

  • Water quality standards

    WHO, BSTI and IBWA requirements

    Bottled water meets the requirements of the World Health Organisation, the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution and the IBWA, and is tested regularly in the company's own laboratory and every week at ICDDR,B, with further tests in London.

  • RTZ World Development Award 1991

    Centre for World Development Education, U.K.

    Awarded to Duncan Brothers for its long-term commitment to the Primary Health Care programme.

Read more about our responsibilities

Health care, education, the environment and our other social commitments.

Corporate responsibility

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