Bindu, a woman in India who is benefiting from a microloan thanks to the Whole Planet Foundation.

We have some great news this month at two leaves and a bud! As many of you know, our tea is widely available in Whole Foods Market around the country. We think we're a good fit for their store shelves because we have so much in common — the importance we place on selling a quality product that's also certified organic, for instance.

This month we'll have something else in common with Whole Foods. We're teaming up with the company's nonprofit organization, Whole Planet Foundation, to give a portion of our proceeds to alleviate poverty all around the world through microcredit loans to people in impoverished communities who want to create or expand a home-based business. Microcredit, or microloans, is about giving very small loans to poor borrowers who often lack collateral, steady employment or a verifiable credit history. The Whole Planet Foundation was established to give back to those people around the world who have helped Whole Foods Market succeed around the world.

Here's the connection for us at two leaves and a bud: Our tea is sourced all around the world from the highest quality organic tea gardens we can find; often very small gardens. In our travels, we see the difference doing business in poverty-stricken communities makes in the lives of people.

How can you help support this mission to give back to hard-working people around the world? We think you're going to love this part: Go to Whole Foods Markets and buy our tea at a discounted price during the last two weeks of March! The money you'll save on each box of sachets on sale is the money that we'll be giving to the Whole Planet Foundation. What's more, because Whole Foods Market covers all of the administrative costs of this program, every single dollar we give to the foundation will go directly to these microloans around the world.

An example: our delicious Organic Assam and Organic Darjeeling teas are from India. Whole Foods Market sources many products in that country, including cashews and spices. To give back, Whole Planet Foundation has supported Grameen Trust, a nonprofit, non-government organization that uses microcredit as a tool for fighting poverty. The $1.3 million granted to the Grameen Trust is for microcredit initiatives outside of Bangladesh. In Kerala, India, the program has expanded to offer small business loans to 4,500 women, helping them make better lives for themselves and their families.

With our tea, we encourage you to "Go There" — to let the taste of the tea transport you to the place where that tea was grown; to take a journey in a cup. With our commitment to Whole Planet Foundation, we hope to make the world a place where we're truly all working together to support each other, and lift people out of poverty. That's a cause we can all get behind.