The story of rooibos, South Africa's indigenous tea

Over the past decade, rooibos production has fluctuated, with annual yields ranging between 10 000t and 18 000t. Combined international and local demand for this iconic South African product is currently stable. Marthane Swart, secretariat for the South African Rooibos Council, spoke to Annelie Coleman about the local rooibos industry.

- Marthane Swart

Rooibos production is on a slight downward trend, with 17 000t produced in 2023, 14 000t in 2024, and an expected 13 000t for the 2025 harvest.

“What makes rooibos so unique is that it is endemic to the Cape Floral Kingdom of South Africa, which is an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot and includes specific regions like the Cederberg in the Western Cape,” says Marthane Swart, secretariat for the South African Rooibos Council (SARC).

CAPE FLORAL KINGDOM

The Cape Floral Kingdom is the smallest of the world’s six floral kingdoms and the only one contained in its entirety within a single country. It is rich in plant life and has a total of 8 700 species, which makes it one of the richest floras worldwide, surpassing many tropical forest regions.

In South Africa, over one-third of all plant species occur in the Cape Floral Kingdom, even though the kingdom occupies less than 6% of the country’s area. Due to the multitude of microclimates, soils, and ecosystems found in this kingdom, a wide array of species has evolved in the area – one of them being rooibos.

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) has adapted and now only grows in the rugged, mountainous areas of the Cederberg, as well as in the Sandveld in the Western Cape and the Bokkeveld in the Northern Cape, where the winters are cold and summers very hot, and temperatures range from 0°C to 45°C. Rooibos is a dryland plant that’s reliant on winter rainfall (it can survive on relatively low precipitation of 200mm to 450mm), and it prefers acidic and well-drained sandy soils. Additionally, there is a unique combination of micro-organisms in the Cederberg soil that allows rooibos to thrive.