Go to the source
Where our own facts come from. If you want to check something we have written, start here rather than with us.
South African Rooibos Council
The industry body. Authoritative on production volumes, standards and the industry's own position. They exist to promote rooibos, so read the health framing as advocacy — the numbers are solid.
sarooibos.co.zaSANBI — Aspalathus linearis
The South African National Biodiversity Institute's plant profile. The botany, habitat, rainfall, cultivation timing and processing method on this site nearly all trace back to this page.
pza.sanbi.orgRegulation (EU) 2021/865
The protected designation of origin itself, in full. It names the sixteen municipalities and defines exactly what may be called rooibos in the European Union. Short, and worth reading rather than taking anyone's summary.
eur-lex.europa.euNatural Justice — the benefit-sharing agreement
The clearest account of the 2019 agreement between the rooibos industry and the Khoikhoi and San, how it was negotiated and what it obliges. An NGO that worked on it, so not a neutral party, but the primary detail is here.
naturaljustice.orgCapeNature
The provincial conservation authority. Reserves, hiking permits, trail access and fees for the Cederberg Wilderness Area. The place to check before you plan a walk, and the only one that is actually authoritative on access.
capenature.co.zaProducers and co-operatives
Listed alphabetically, and listing is not endorsement — we have not visited these, we do not sell their tea, and none of them has any say over what appears here. Where a producer is tied to a specific town, we have said so, because that is the part of the story this site cares about.
BOS Brands
Rooibos iced tea, and the brand most likely to be a visitor's first encounter with rooibos in a form they were not expecting.
bosbrands.comCarmién Tea
A large producer with processing in the Citrusdal valley. One of the few names on this list with a physical presence in the region a visitor actually drives through.
carmientea.comHeiveld Co-operative
A smallholder co-operative in the Suid–Bokkeveld, near Nieuwoudtville, founded in 2001 and now owned by dozens of member families. Organic and Fairtrade certified, hand-harvested, and a winner of the UNDP Equator Prize in 2014. If you want the opposite end of the industry from a factory, this is it.
heiveld.co.zaMy Red Tea
A smaller, design-led exporter selling into the UK and Europe, with a good deal of sourcing detail on its own site.
myredtea.comred espresso
Rooibos ground fine enough to run through an espresso machine. Worth knowing about because it is the clearest evidence that the plant is not confined to a teabag.
redespresso.comRooibos Ltd
The largest processor, based in Clanwilliam. Most rooibos sold anywhere in the world has passed through a facility like this one.
rooibosltd.co.zaThis is not a complete list of the industry, and it is not the farm directory. A farm only appears on this site once someone has confirmed that it welcomes visitors and on what terms — that work has not been done yet, and until it is, we would rather list nobody than list wrongly.
Other guides to this part of the country
The Rooibos Route
The region's long-established rooibos tourism route, and the closest thing to a direct counterpart to this site. Dated in build, but it has been listing members for years and carries names we do not.
rooibos-route.co.zaCederberg
A regional tourism site covering accommodation and activities across the wider Cederberg, well beyond the rooibos story.
cederberg.co.zaClanwilliam
Town-level information for Clanwilliam, which is the working centre of the rooibos industry and the place most visitors base themselves.
clanwilliam.infoVisit Citrusdal
A guide to Citrusdal, at the southern gate of the region. Disclosure: we make this one too. It is listed because it is genuinely the most detailed guide to that town, and you should know the connection rather than discover it.
visitcitrusdal.com · oursHow a link gets onto this page
- Nobody paysThere are no paid placements, no affiliate links and no sponsored entries anywhere on this site, and there never will be without it being disclosed on the page it affects, before it happens.
- It has to be useful to youA link earns its place by being the best available source on something, or by being genuinely worth a visitor's time. Not by asking.
- Every URL is checkedEach of these was requested and returned a working page on the date below. Links rot; if you find a dead one, we would like to know.
- Listing is not endorsementWe have not inspected these businesses, we do not vouch for them, and we take no responsibility for what they sell or how they treat you. We are pointing, not recommending.
- We link to competitorsIncluding the route this site overlaps with most. A guide that hides the alternatives is telling you something about itself.