Exports account for more than half of annual production Ray Smuts THESE ARE desperate days for rooibos producers as they anxiously scan the skies for much needed rain without which a calamitous crop is almost certain. This is the grim message from Martin Berg, managing director of of Rooibos Ltd, as he warns of potentially dire consequences if meaningful rain does not fall within the next month. “If it does, we will pick up our tails and carry on.” His concerns are well founded given that rooibos is grown nowhere else in the world but the Western Cape, so it is a truly generic product that has found international favour. More than half the annual production of 9 000 tons produced by some 300 growers from Piketberg in the south to Nieuwoudtville in the north is exported, accounting for some R200 million at producer level. Germany with 3 200 tons is the largest consumer, Japan takes around 400 tons and the US 200 tons a year of the flavoursome mineral-rich, caffeine-free, tea. A stark illustration of just how serious drought is in the province is that the rooibos industry requires between 170mm and 500mm per annum as a norm yet it has had a mere 26mm between January and the end of July. Clanwilliam, heart of the industry, traditionally has an annual rainfall of 200mm, but the local 121 million cubic metre dam just outside the town is at only 13% of capacity whereas it is usually full by October. Berg says without sufficient rain the forthcoming crop could prove “disastrous”, possibly 30% down. “People are living off this year’s crop with good prices received, but without rain they face disaster between January and April next year.” Meanwhile, Rooibos Ltd is still embroiled in a lengthy R3,5 million trademark dispute with Texas businesswoman Virginia Burke-Watkins of Burke International who claims exclusivity over the right to import rooibos into the US and is therefore defending the action before a tribunal. Berg says despite Burke-Watkins’ claim trade to the US has not suffered at all. “We are saying rooibos is a generic name. She believes she is right in defending the action claiming rooibos is a slang word. I would say the chances of us succeeding would be 98 out of 100 otherwise we would not be fighting it.”
