As health awareness rises as an important issue with many consumers, so does the production and sale of a healthy “niche” tea known as rooibos. The tea is caffeine-free and unique to South Africa’s Western Cape, where major clients include the likes of Starbucks, according to an April article from the San Francisco Chronicle.
The tea’s production has risen with consumer health awareness as 14,000 tons of the tea have been shipped out of South Africa, tripling over the last decade.
“Five years ago, rooibos was really quite a niche product,” said Paul Jefferies, an herbal tea buyer at for Tata Global Beverages’ Tetly – a major tea retailer – to the Chronicle. “Thanks to a very strong marketing campaign, sales have been on a steep upward curve.”
Much of this expansion is because of the health benefits that rooibos has to offer. The drink – much like green tea – holds a plethora of antioxidants that help boost immune systems as well as calcium and fluoride.
According to the Chronicle, rooibos makes up about 10 percent of the herbal tea market and 1 percent of the global tea market, which is estimated to be worth $23 billion. Furthermore, “specialty teas” – which include rooibos – constitute about 9 percent of the U.S. tea industry, which is worth roughly $2.1 billion.
Rooibos has also seen a 300 percent increase in the United Kingdom as the Associated British Foods’ Twinings tea division claims that rooibos now has a 2.6 percent share of its sales.
If local grocers or tea retailers wish to invest in this growing market, they may benefit from using a Primera LX Series color label to create custom labels that promote the healthiness of the rooibos tea for their customers.
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