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Make tea not war

www.cafedirect.co.uk

26 February 2011

Trouble is brewing for British businesses, as rows over the office tea round
stir up fresh tensions between colleagues.
British men stand accused of a new form of workplace inequality by conning female counterparts
out of cuppas, according to new research by Cafédirect, Britain’s largest 100% Fairtrade hot
drinks brand. The study of 3000 workers found that each week, female workers make more than
three times as many cups of tea for male colleagues as men make for them.
Two thirds of men (62 percent) regularly invent bogus reasons to avoid making workmates a
brew, while over a quarter (28 percent) admit to sneaking off to make themselves a cuppa on the
quiet.
And although men make marginally bigger tea rounds than women – by just one cup – they tend
to moan for half a minute longer each time it’s their turn.
But women aren’t entirely blameless. Almost half (46 percent) admit to using the office brew as a
chance to bunk off work, while a quarter (24 percent) reveal their apparent act of generosity is
merely a cover for sharing office gossip with colleagues.
By sector, recruitment consultants – the UK’s biggest tea drinkers – are the most hot-tempered
hot drink addicts. Two thirds of the sector’s staff admit to regularly coming to blows over office
brews, generally spending almost as long moaning about tea (4 minutes) as making it (5
minutes). They’re also the most likely to use dirty tricks to duck out of making workmates a drink,
with 44 percent admitting to making deliberately poor tea to avoid repeat orders.
Builders by contrast are least likely to complain about a bad cuppa, with barely a third saying
they have berated workmates for a bad-tasting brew.
Almost six million British workers claim they couldn’t get through the day without a cuppa. But
given its part in workplace bickering, the humble brew has become the cause for some unlikely
battles between colleagues.
Overall, two thirds of tea-loving workmates dispute whose turn it is to stick on the kettle once a
day, with a quarter (24 percent) saying it’s led them to secretly harbour bad thoughts towards
those who haven’t pulled their weight.
More than a third (37 percent) of arguments are caused by staff only making themselves a
cuppa, whilst a further quarter (22 percent) of tea round rows result from suspicions that
workmates have deliberately whipped them up a bad-tasting drink.
The survey showed that 91 percent of workers would like their company to offer Fairtrade tea. In
response, Cafédirect is calling for companies to make the office tea round fairer in time for
Fairtrade Fortnight (22
nd
February to 7
th
March) by making the ‘Big Swap’ to Cafédirect tea. Other businesses backing Cafédirect’s “Turn over a New Leaf” campaign include Google and John
Lewis.
Cafédirect CEO Anne MacCaig commented: “As office politics goes, the humble tea round would
seem an unlikely cause of controversy. But with some making markedly more tea than others,
workers are coming to blows over brews. So to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight, we’re calling on
businesses to make the company cuppa fairer, by asking bosses to make the Big Swap to
Cafédirect tea. And while they’re at it, to put the kettle on for their staff!”
A spokesperson for Google said: “We love a good brew at Google HQ. That’s why we’re pleased
to be backing Cafédirect’s call for businesses to make the office tea round fairer and make the
Big Swap to Fairtrade.”
Workers can lobby their companies to turn over a new leaf to Cafédirect by going to
www.cafedirect.co.uk/fairtradefortnight2010