Better Rooibos Tea

Working in partnership with Cape Natural Tea Products, The Better Trading Company is pioneering the introduction of Rooibos Tea in the marginal agricultural lands of Elim in the Southern Cape. The first commercial harvest of 2008 showed that yields comfortably exceed long-term industry averages.

Better Product

Impressed by the quality of the tea produced to date, a leading retailer in South Africa has bought the first crop. The product will be available countrywide in September of 2009.

We are managing bridging finance to the farmers that will enable them to cover their operating expenses. With revenues from tea sales, the farmers will co-invest in a tea court for further value-add.

Co-investment will allow the farmers to share in the profits created from the added value, which means that the processing of the product will be centralised - allowing for excellent quality control.

Better Planet

Rooibos is not indigenous to this region. Conscious of the ecological uniqueness of the area, we commissioned a baseline study from an expert botanist. The aim of the work was to assess the environmental implications of tea cultivation in the Elim area.

The study found that the impact of rooibos cultivation on this under-utilised farmland has a much lesser impact on the local environment than other agricultural activities such as livestock, dairy, wheat or vineyards.

We are exploring opportunities to work in partnership with organisations active in the area to clear away alien vegetation that encroaches on indigenous vegetation and erodes biodiversity. We are also piloting a project that addresses how farming might actually restore biodiversity by growing indigenous fynbos alongside the tea.

Better People

The commercial strength of this investment provides much needed income diversification and black economic empowerment in the tea industry.

While the employment generated from the cultivation is modest, the impact on livelihoods is significant. Take Eunice Engel-Marais as an example, with the income she has received from working on the project, she has been able to act on her dream and develop a neglected family farm. With a working farm, she is able to offer more security to her eleven workers that reside in the small local village.