Rooibos suppliers and exporters in South Africa — an origin dossier for buyers

The short answer

Rooibos is grown in one region on earth and handled by about twenty companies. This is who they are, in their own words.

Who grows A handful of estates and two grower-owned co-operatives
Who processes Nine processors and bulk exporters, most around Clanwilliam
Who buys Seven retail brands and product makers, mostly outside the region
What we do not do No ranking, no commission, no contact details — each company’s own site is linked

How to buy direct, step by step · The industry as a story

How to buy direct The paperwork, whose job each document is, and what to ask in the first email

Where the volume goes tonnes exported, 2025

10 930All exports

3 606Japan

7 324Everywhere else

Exports passed 10 000 tonnes for the first time in 2025, at roughly 10 930 t, to more than 50 markets. Japan is the largest single market at about 33%. Source: Bizcommunity, “Rooibos industry reaches new export heights”, February 2026. The “everywhere else” bar is the remainder, not a reported figure.

What this list covers, and what it cannot

There is no public register of every company that grows, processes or sells rooibos. The nearest thing is the South African Rooibos Council’s own membership, and the Council states plainly that its members represent an estimated 80% of the volume and value of annual production and sales. So the best list anyone can assemble openly is, by the industry body’s own arithmetic, not all of it.

Read the restAbout 1 minute

What follows is built from three sources: the Council’s published membership, each company’s own website, and the co-operative and certification records already gathered for who makes rooibos. Where a company does not publish something — a founding year, a town — the row simply is not there. No gap here has been filled by inference.

We have visited none of these operations. Nothing here is an audit, an endorsement or a quality judgement, and the order inside each group is alphabetical for exactly that reason.

If you are on this list, or should be

Corrections and additions are welcome and cost nothing. There is no paid placement on this site and there never will be. Tell us what is wrong, or what is missing, and where we can check it — send it through here.

Why a buyer page at all

Rooibos leaves this region as a commodity and arrives in fifty-odd markets as a brand. The middle of that journey — who actually handles the leaf — is barely documented in public.

That is the gap this page is for. It is the same job the extract trade section does on the products page, at company level.

Membership and the 80% figure: SA Rooibos Council. Export figures: South African industry reporting, February 2026, for the 2025 calendar year. Protected origin: Regulation (EU) 2021/865.

II · The directory

Who grows, processes and exports

Four groups, alphabetical within each. A company appears in the group that matches what it does with the leaf, not how big it is.

Processors, packers and bulk exporters 9

The companies that take green leaf off the farm and turn it into a traded commodity — cutting, bruising, oxidising, drying, sifting, pasteurising, blending and packing. This is where most of the region's volume passes through.

Cape Natural Tea Products

SA Rooibos Council member

Bulk African botanicals — rooibos, honeybush, rosehips

A bulk supplier working through a large network of farming partners rather than a single estate. Based in Cape Town rather than in the region, but its supply comes from here.

What they publish about themselves5

Base: Cape Town — not in the growing region
Business: Bulk supplier of rooibos, honeybush and rosehips
Scale, as stated: A network of 200+ producers; 30 years of operation as of 2026
Certification, as stated: FSSC-22000, USDA and EU organic, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade, Halaal, Kosher, JAS
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

rooibostea.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: Cape Natural Tea Products (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

Cape Rooibos

SA Rooibos Council member

Rooibos — bulk supply to brands, packers and traders

A producer-owned bulk supplier working entirely business-to-business. It publishes a farmer count and a hectare figure, which most of the trade does not.

What they publish about themselves6

Business: Bulk supply to tea brands, packers and traders only
Ownership, as stated: Producer-owned, with 80+ farmers over more than 15 000 hectares
Volume, as stated: About 5 000 tons of rooibos a year
Certification, as stated: USDA and EU organic, Ecocert, QS Cert, FSSC 22000, Rainforest Alliance, JAS
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member
Town: Not stated on the company's own site, so we do not place it

caperooibostea.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: Cape Rooibos (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

Carmién Tea

Rooibos — retail packing, bulk export, private label · Citrusdal · since 1998

Founded on the historic Brakfontein Estate near Citrusdal by Mientjie Mouton, who remains managing director. Packs retail rooibos and exports bulk, and buys across four named growing areas rather than farming one.

What they publish about themselves5

Based at: Brakfontein Estate, near Citrusdal
Founded: 1998, by Mientjie Mouton, managing director
Business: Retail packer and bulk tea exporter, private label
Sources from: Piekenierskloof, Nieuwoudtville, Wupperthal and Gifberg
Certification, as stated: Organic and conventional; says it operates on Fairtrade principles

carmientea.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Source: Carmién Tea — Our Story (source, opens in a new tab)

Elandsberg Tea Processors

Rooibos — pasteurisation, sifting, private-label packing · Clanwilliam district · since 2001

A processing business grown out of a farming family: the third generation of the Engelbrechts, who have farmed Groenkol Rooibos Tea Estate since the 1950s, built the processing plant in 2001.

What they publish about themselves5

Location: 22 km from Clanwilliam
Founded: 2001, by the third generation of the Engelbrecht family
Farm: Groenkol Rooibos Tea Estate, farmed since the 1950s
Business: Sifting and pasteurisation of bulk rooibos through to private-label packing
Certification, as stated: JAS, USDA, EU, QS Cert, FSSC 22000, Rainforest Alliance

www.etea.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Source: Elandsberg Tea Processors — About us (source, opens in a new tab)

Khoisan Tea

Rooibos — bulk loose leaf, packing, private label, export · Clanwilliam

A Clanwilliam producer and exporter working in bulk and private label, across rooibos, honeybush, apple cuts and rosehips.

What they publish about themselves5

Base: Clanwilliam
Business: Bulk loose leaf, packaging solutions and private labelling, for export
Range: Rooibos and green rooibos, honeybush, apple cuts, rosehips
Certification, as stated: BRCGS food safety, Rainforest Alliance, organic (USDA, Ecocert, Konkuk), Fairtrade, Halaal, EU food
Note: The site khoisantea.com does not resolve; khoisantea.net is the working address

khoisantea.net (their website, opens in a new tab)

Source: Khoisan Tea (source, opens in a new tab)

Nieuwoudtville Rooibos

Rooibos — processing, instant tea and extract · Nieuwoudtville · since 2008

Trading as Bokkeveld Rooibos Tea. Unusually for the industry it states that it is government owned, and that its purpose is to bring emerging producers into the whole value chain rather than only the growing end.

What they publish about themselves6

Base: Nieuwoudtville, on the Bokkeveld plateau
Founded: 2008
Capacity, as stated: 3 000 tons of tea a year
Also makes: Instant tea and rooibos extract
Ownership, as stated: 100% government owned
Purpose, as stated: Bringing emerging rooibos producers into the full value chain

www.bokkeveldrooibos.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Source: Bokkeveld Rooibos Tea — About (source, opens in a new tab)

Rooibos Limited

SA Rooibos Council member

Rooibos — farming, processing, extraction, packing, export · Clanwilliam · since 1954

The oldest and largest operation in the industry, on Rooitee Street in Clanwilliam, covering the whole chain from farming through extraction to branded product. Its lineage runs back to the Rooibos Tea Control Board.

What they publish about themselves7

Base: 1 Rooitee Street, Clanwilliam
Since: 1954
Business: Farming, primary and secondary processing, extraction, packing, export
Reach, as stated: More than 50 countries
Range: Rooibos, green rooibos, honeybush, rosehips; bulk, packed, extracts
Own brand: RooibosMark
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

rooibosltd.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: Rooibos Limited (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

Skimmelberg

SA Rooibos Council member

Organic rooibos and buchu — bulk export, private label, own products · Clanwilliam

A family operation working in both rooibos and buchu, with a finished-product range in oils, soaps and skincare. One of the few in the directory that says plainly it takes visitors.

What they publish about themselves5

Base: Clanwilliam, beside the Skimmelberg Nature Reserve
Business: Bulk rooibos and buchu export, private-label packing, own finished products
Also makes: Essential oils, soaps, bath salts, skincare, pet care
Visitors: States that it offers tours and tea tastings
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

skimmelberg.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: Skimmelberg (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

The Red T Company

SA Rooibos Council member

Rooibos — processing, bulk, private label, contract blending · Clanwilliam district · since 1995

A Clanwilliam-district processor and packer founded the year the industry deregulated, working in bulk supply, private label and contract processing.

What they publish about themselves6

Base: Clanwilliam district, Cederberg
Founded: 1995
Business: Bulk supply, private labelling, contract processing, specialty blending
Reach, as stated: Over 50 countries
Certification, as stated: HACCP, EU PDO, Ecocert organic, Kosher, Halaal, PPECB export certified
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

www.redtcompany.com (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: The Red T Company (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

Farms and estates that sell under their own name 1

Growers who process or market their own crop rather than only delivering it to a processor.

Klipopmekaar

Single-estate organic rooibos — farming, processing, export · Northern Cederberg · since 2007

A 6 000 hectare mountain farm selling single-estate organic rooibos direct to specialty and premium tea brands, rather than into the bulk pool.

What they publish about themselves6

Location: High in the northern Cederberg mountains
Since: 2007, when the Bowsher family acquired 6 000 ha
Organic: Independently certified from 2008
Business: Farms, processes and exports single-estate organic rooibos direct to tea brands
Certification, as stated: Ecocert (EU, NOP/USDA, JAS), UEBT / Rainforest Alliance
Its own claim: Says it became the first carbon net-negative rooibos supplier in the industry, April 2024

www.klipopmekaar.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Source: Klipopmekaar — About us (source, opens in a new tab)

Co-operatives 2

Small-scale grower-owned operations. Both of the ones here are certified organic and fair trade, and both sit at the harder end of the terrain.

Heiveld Co-operative

Organic, fair trade rooibos — grower-owned · Suid-Bokkeveld, near Nieuwoudtville · since 2001

Founded by fourteen small-scale Suid-Bokkeveld farmers and now several dozen member families, harvesting by hand and exporting into fair-trade channels across three continents. It won the UNDP Equator Prize in 2014.

What they publish about themselves8

Base: Suid-Bokkeveld, Northern Cape — the co-op gives it as about 360 km north of Cape Town
Founded: 2001, by 14 founding members
Members: Around 64 to 75, depending on the source and the year
Production, as stated: 50–80 tons a year
Method: Grown and processed traditionally, with minimal machinery, harvested by hand
Certification, as stated: Organic to EU, NOP and Naturland standards; Fairtrade FLO and Naturland Fair
Recognition: UNDP Equator Prize, 2014
Exports to: Germany, UK, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, USA, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Australia

www.heiveld.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: Heiveld Co-operative (source, opens in a new tab) · UNDP Equator Initiative (source, opens in a new tab)

Wupperthal Original Rooibos Co-operative

Organic, fair trade rooibos — grower-owned · Wupperthal · since 2009

The co-operative of the Wupperthal mission valley, formally founded in 2009 by growers who had been producing since 1998, and Fairtrade certified the following year.

What they publish about themselves4

Base: Wupperthal, in the Cederberg
Founded: 3 August 2009, by growers producing since 1998
Fairtrade: Certified in early 2010
Members: Sources disagree — one gives 84 founding members, another 53 growing to 93. We publish no figure

wr1830.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Source: Wupperthal Original Rooibos (source, opens in a new tab)

Brands and product makers that buy from the region 7

These are not regional operations. They are listed because they are where regional rooibos ends up, and because a buyer researching the origin will meet their names first.

African Extracts Rooibos

SA Rooibos Council member

Rooibos skincare

A rooibos skincare range — seven lines including a men's range — made in Cape Town from rooibos extract.

What they publish about themselves3

Base: Paarden Eiland, Cape Town — not in the growing region
Range: Classic, Purifying, Radiance, Advantage, Hydrofirm-C+, facial wipes, Rooibos Man
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

africanextracts.com (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: African Extracts — product ranges (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

Annique

SA Rooibos Council member

Rooibos health and beauty products · since 1971

The oldest rooibos cosmetics business in the country, founded in 1971 by Dr Annique Theron, now around 150 products. Head office is in Gauteng, well outside the region.

What they publish about themselves4

Base: Centurion, Gauteng — not in the growing region
Founded: 1971, by Dr Annique Theron
Range, as stated: About 150 health and beauty products
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

annique.com (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: Annique — about us (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

AVI — National Brands

SA Rooibos Council member

Retail tea brands, including Freshpak

The listed group behind Freshpak, the rooibos brand most South Africans know. Widely described as the country's leading rooibos brand — a claim we attribute rather than assert.

What they publish about themselves5

Base: Not in the growing region
Owns: National Brands Limited, whose portfolio includes Freshpak
Market position, in their words: “As South Africa’s best-selling Rooibos, Freshpak is a proudly South African success story!” — their claim about their own brand, quoted not asserted
Export: AVI says Freshpak Rooibos “is also available internationally in a wide selection of markets”
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

www.avi.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: AVI — Freshpak (source, opens in a new tab) · AVI — brand portfolio (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

BOS Brands

SA Rooibos Council member

Bottled rooibos iced tea

Describes itself as "Rooibos Tea & Ice Tea from South Africa to the World" — the brand that took rooibos into the chilled drinks aisle.

What they publish about themselves3

Base: Not in the growing region
Business: Bottled and canned rooibos iced tea, and rooibos tea
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

www.bosbrands.com (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: BOS Brands (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

Eleven O’Clock

UK rooibos brand sourcing from this region

A British rooibos brand, owned and operated by Wistbray Ltd of Newbury, Berkshire. It is in this directory for one reason: it names the region in its own words, saying its rooibos is “cured in the clear Cederberg mountain air” — a published origin claim from a buyer rather than a producer.

What they publish about themselves5

Base: Newbury, Berkshire, United Kingdom — not in the growing region
Owner: Wistbray Ltd
Origin claim, in their words: “Grown organically on Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms, our superior grade rooibos is harvested by hand, and cured in the clear Cederberg mountain air”
Certifications, as claimed: Certified organic; Rainforest Alliance; biodegradable teabags; no artificial additives or GM crops
Self-description: “the original, most renowned South African rooibosch tea” — their marketing, quoted not endorsed

elevenoclocktea.com (their website, opens in a new tab)

Source: Eleven O’Clock (source, opens in a new tab)

Joekels Tea Packers

SA Rooibos Council member

Tea packing and brands, including Laager

A tea packer and brand owner, listed by the SA Rooibos Council among its members. It publishes its portfolio as Tetley, Laager, Phendula, Tea Time, Teeco, Southall’s and Society Cappuccino — Laager being the rooibos name most South Africans would recognise.

What they publish about themselves4

Base: Not in the growing region
Brands, as published: Tetley, Laager, Phendula, Tea Time, Teeco, Southall’s, Society Cappuccino
Rooibos lines: Laager Pure Rooibos and Laager Rooibos Herbals
SA Rooibos Council: Listed as a member

www.joekels.co.za (their website, opens in a new tab)

Sources: Joekels — brands (source, opens in a new tab) · SA Rooibos Council — members (source, opens in a new tab)

red espresso

Rooibos ground for espresso machines · since 2005

Grinds rooibos fine enough to brew on standard espresso equipment. Says it made the first rooibos espresso, in 2005, and that its signature drink is the red cappuccino.

What they publish about themselves3

Base: Not in the growing region
Since, as stated: 2005 — the company says it was the first
Product: Rooibos ground for espresso machines; the "red cappuccino"

redespresso.com (their website, opens in a new tab)

Source: red espresso (source, opens in a new tab)

Every entry above links to the page it was taken from. Retrieved 23 August 2026. Certifications are listed as the company states them — we have not checked certificate registers, and a buyer should ask for current certificates directly.

III · The markets

Where the exports go

Rooibos leaves South Africa for more than fifty markets. The South African Rooibos Council names five as the biggest importers in 2023: Japan, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Read the restAbout 2 minutes

That is the whole of what the industry publishes, and it is worth being precise about what it is. It is a set, not a ranking. The Council gives no order and no country shares, so neither do we. A league table of rooibos importers, if you are shown one, has been built out of something other than published industry data, and the person showing it to you should be able to say what.

Separately, and for a different year, export volume passed ten thousand tonnes for the first time in 2025 — roughly 10 930 t, with Japan the largest single market at about a third. Two sources, two periods, two different measures. Japan appears in both, and that is the only thing that carries cleanly across them.

Published export figures, and what each actually says
What is published	What it actually says
Production, 2023	About 22 600 tonnes, which the Council frames as just over ten billion cups.South African Rooibos Council, industry statistics
Biggest importers, 2023	Japan, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom. Named, not ranked, with no shares given.South African Rooibos Council, industry statistics
Exports, 2025	About 10 930 tonnes to more than fifty markets, Japan about a third of it.SA industry reporting, February 2026
What you cannot do with these	Subtract them. Production is not export and the years are two apart. The gap between 22 600 and 10 930 is not a domestic-consumption figure and we are not going to present it as one.

Japan aside, the biggest importers are all EU or UK. That is a procedural fact rather than a marketing one: it puts most of this trade inside instruments that already have names, and they are the ones this site documents.

Protected designation of origin bites hardest there. Since 2021, tea grown outside this region cannot be sold into the European Union as rooibos at all — the name is reserved to the demarcated area. What protected origin means.
Preferential duty runs on a EUR.1 movement certificate under the SADC–EU economic partnership agreement or the SACUM–UK agreement — and it is the exporter who must be registered with Customs to apply for one, not you.
EU compliance is the importer’s own. Residue limits, contaminants, labelling and a HACCP-based procedure are the responsibility of whoever brings the product across the border. Your South African supplier does not carry that for you, and no reputable one will claim to.

All three are set out properly, with the SARS, DALRRD and CBI sources behind them, on how to buy direct. If you are buying into Japan rather than Europe, none of the three paragraphs above is your route and we have not researched yours.

Tonnes per destination country. Rooibos has no international tariff line of its own: it sits inside HS 1211.90, a basket heading for plants used in perfumery and pharmacy, alongside a great many unrelated things. China created a dedicated national code for rooibos in 2024 precisely because the six-digit heading does not identify it.

So a customs database will not simply hand you rooibos by destination — it will hand you a heading that contains rooibos. Any figure presented as rooibos exports to a named country has had a judgement applied to it somewhere, and it is fair to ask whose.

Four of the five are in Europe, and that changes the paperwork

What nobody can tell you cleanly, including us

Five biggest importers, 2023 production, the ten-billion-cups framing and the fifty-market figure: South African Rooibos Council, industry statistics, retrieved 23 September 2026. 2025 export tonnage and the Japan share: Bizcommunity, “Rooibos industry reaches new export heights”, February 2026 — the same source as the chart at the top of this page. Protected designation of origin: Regulation (EU) 2021/865. Tariff classification, EUR.1 and the importer’s obligations: sources in full on how to buy direct.

Certifications you will meet

These are the marks that recur across the directory above. What each scheme guarantees is the scheme owner’s to state, and each is linked below. What we can usefully say is which ones you will actually encounter here, and what kind of question each one answers.

Read the restAbout 1 minute

Certification marks, and the question each one speaks to
Mark	The kind of question it speaks toAsk the scheme, and the certificate, for the specifics
EU PDO	Origin. Whether the product may be sold as rooibos in the EU at all
Organic — Ecocert, USDA/NOP, EU, JAS, Naturland	How it was farmed, and to whose standard in which market
Fairtrade / FLO, Naturland Fair	Terms of trade and what reaches the grower
Rainforest Alliance, UEBT	Environmental and sourcing practice
FSSC 22000, BRCGS, HACCP	Food safety management in the plant
Halaal, Kosher	Religious dietary certification
PPECB	South African export inspection

One thing worth knowing

Protected designation of origin covers the name, not the quality, the farming or the ethics. It is why tea grown outside this region cannot be sold into the EU as rooibos — and it says nothing whatsoever about how any particular consignment was grown. The story page explains the boundary, including why the legal area and the growing area are not the same thing.

What to ask a producer

We are not a broker and we will not introduce you to anyone. But the questions below are the ones this research kept running into — the things the public record does not answer and a supplier can, in one email.

Read the restAbout 1 minute

Where was this specific lot grown? Several companies in the list buy across four or more growing areas. “Cederberg” on a bag can mean a mountain smallholding or a large plantation on the flats.
Red or green, and processed how? Green rooibos is a different, more demanding process and a different price. The difference.
Whose certificate, valid until when? Ask for the document, not the logo.
Own crop, bought crop, or both? A single-estate farm and a bulk aggregator are different risk profiles, and both are represented above.
What happens to the grower? If fair trade matters to your buyer, the co-operatives are the part of this industry where that question has a documented answer.

If this is the first time you have bought an agricultural product out of South Africa, the questions above are only the start of it. How to source rooibos directly from South Africa walks the whole process — deciding what form you are actually buying, specifying a sample, and the export documents, most of which turn out to be the exporter’s obligation rather than yours.

Better than us on this

South African Rooibos CouncilThe industry bodyMembership, industry data and the trade’s own contacts. If you are sourcing commercially, start with them.

What we cannot tell you yet

Prices, minimum order quantities or lead times. None are published and we will not estimate them.
Who is any good. We have visited nobody and tasted nothing. There is no ranking here and there will not be one until that changes.
The full list. By the Council’s own 80% figure, a fifth of the industry by volume is not represented by any public membership list, and small growers who deliver into the bulk pool are largely invisible in public records.
Tonnes per destination country. Rooibos shares a tariff heading with a great many other plants, so no customs database reports it cleanly. Why that is.
Contact people. Websites only. Direct lines and email addresses go stale, and a wrong one wastes your morning.

Last reviewed 23 September 2026. Every claim on this page traces to docs/facts.md with a named source. Something wrong or out of date? Tell us — corrections are free and we would rather fix it than defend it.

How to buy directThe process end to end, and which export document is whose job. Who makes rooibosThe same industry told as a story rather than a directory. What the leaf becomesTea, extract, cosmetics — where the volume actually goes. The plant and the placeWhy it grows only here, and what protected origin means.

For buyers

Protected designation of origin

Since 2021 tea grown outside this region cannot be sold into the European Union as rooibos — the same instrument that reserves the name Champagne to Champagne.

Who makes rooibos