Tagged: fair trade

The Rooibos Farmer Who Bought Back the Farm He Used to Work for Wages

Jacobus Koopman used a government land-reform loan to buy the Suid Bokkeveld farm where he had worked for wages. He and thirteen neighbours turned that into Heiveld, an organic rooibos co-operative that later had to defend its independence from its own government.

Three Different Promises on a Rooibos Label, and Why Most Tins Carry None

Organic, Fair Trade, and Rainforest Alliance are three different promises on a rooibos label, not one certification, and the industry's own count of who holds them is smaller than most drinkers would guess. Here is what each stamp verifies, and what really decides which farmers can afford to earn it.

Nobody Has Ever Auctioned a Kilogram of Rooibos

Nearly every major tea in the world passes through a public auction where buyers bid in the open. Rooibos never has. Here is how its price actually gets set, and why the gap has never been filled.