Ethical sourcing has moved on. Earlier this week we covered a story concerning the ditching of Tetley by McDonalds because the tea-giant wasn’t a member of the Rainforest Alliance.

An entirely understandable decision in the modern era you would think, until it transpires that although Tetley (owned by Indian company Tata) isn’t a member of McDonald’s preferred sourcing programme it is a member of the ethical tea parternship – one of the UK’s three recognised tea sourcing initiatives.

All of which suggests that McDonalds has set a dangerous precedent, given that it no longer seems enough to simply source your product according to ethical guidelines (the conclusion in this case appears to be that some guidelines are more ethical than others).

Tetley themselves brushed off the decision, with Percy Siganporia, managing director at Tata Tea, describing the decision as “disappointing”, before reiterating that Tetley retained its “commitment” to the Ethical Tea Partnership.

But whilst every ethical sourcing programme has a distinct set of priorities - the tea partnership, for example, was set up to improve the lives of the millions of people working in tea plantations around the world – it’s their shared goals that really make a difference.

Decisions such as the one seen by McDonalds this week could, in the long-term, prove counter-productive.