Supplying Herbs To Major Brands

When Lizette Kloppers started dabbling in tomato-growing on the family farm near Worcester, she had no idea that her little enterprise would develop into a thriving herb business. Today, Rooikrans Kruie produces about 23t of basil and substantial quantities of other herbs each season for some of South Africa’s most recognised food brands.

- Jeandre van der Walt

FAST FACTS

Lizette Kloppers has seen her tiny backyard experiment with tomatoes develop into a successful herbgrowing operation producing 23t of basil in a season.

South Africa’s fresh herb market is very small, but the market for dried herbs is lucrative.

It is extremely important to secure a market before planting herbs, says Kloppers.

In the mid-1990s, Lizette Kloppers, a former landscaper, planted cocktail tomatoes in a tunnel on her family farm Rooikrans, on the outskirts of Worcester in the Western Cape.

“I started to experiment with tomatoes for family consumption and shared the surplus with friends,” she recalls.

At the time, she was reading one of Margaret Roberts’s books on herbs, and came across the concept of companion planting.

“This is based on the principle that certain plants can attract or repel insects or provide beneficial support to other plants. The book suggests that tomato and basil are a good match for companion planting, so I decided to give it a try.”

She replaced two rows of tomatoes with basil. “I knew nothing about herbs and, as the basil started growing taller and more lush, I started wondering what on earth I should do with it all.

“Then my neighbour came across a small advertisement in a magazine from someone looking for basil. I phoned the number and ended up in the kitchen of Kathleen Quillinan, the founder of Pesto Princess, with a refuse bag full of basil leaves!”

The meeting marked the beginning of a change of direction for Kloppers.

EMPHASIS ON HERBS