Khoisan Gourmet is a member of the Libstar family of companies. The group was formed in 2005 from successful entrepreneurial businesses and is now listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Libstar is one of the largest food groups in South Africa and operates across 7 categories, specializing in Private Label.

Producing and exporting conventional and 100% organic Rooibos Tea globally is our main focus and joy at Khoisan Gourmet. We also supply wild harvest Honeybush Tea from South Africa’s famous Garden Route. For over 20 years, we have grown our indigenous herbal tea exports, and today, we are a leading supplier in South Africa and an experienced exporter in the industry.

Completing our focus on all that is natural we provide organic and conventional Bourbon Vanilla from plantations in Madagascar and Uganda. We pride ourselves on maintaining sound, long-term business relationships with many reputable tea companies and distributors throughout the world and welcome you to Khoisan Gourmet. Keep browsing… our website tells a nice story.

We maintain long term relationships with our Rooibos farmers/producers. We oversee everything from planting of seedlings to harvesting, cutting and the fermentation process.

During the hot month of February, Rooibos seeds are hand collected from the fields and incubated in nurseries until the seedlings are ready to be transplanted to well-watered plantations. These seeds go through a scarification process to encourage germination and no chemical treatments are used for our organic seeds. Planting season starts from May until end of August and will depend on the duration of the rain season. The seedlings are planted after the first rainfall to ensure the roots have adequate moisture to survive the harsh climate and become a harvestable Rooibos plant.

The main harvest period for Rooibos is during the hot summer months of January to April, during which temperatures can reach 45 degrees C. Most producers still make use of hand harvesting with a sickle, ensuring each individual plant is cut at the proper level, approximately 50 cm above the ground, preserving enough of the plant for the next year’s harvest. These cuttings are carefully bound into bundles and transported to the processing facility.

The sheaves are fed through special cutting machines according to specifications.  This freshly cut Rooibos is placed on the courts and water is added to initiate the natural fermentation process which lasts for a period of about 20 hours depending on the outside temperature.  This process is overseen by our expert teamaker and results in the famous and desired rich ruby-red brown colour so characteristic of Rooibos. 

The fermented tea is then spread out and dried on our 9000sqm of drying planes under the African sun. The drying period depends on the temperature of the day. Once the tea reaches a moisture count between 5 and 7 percent it will be collected and stored in bags clearly marked to ensure full traceability. It is now known as “Raw Tea”.

Green Rooibos does not go through fermentation and great effort is taken to guarantee that harvest and drying happen in 2 hours to prevent tea from turning red. Our specialised machine, which uses extremely gentle cutting procedures and a new drying method with an average drying temperature of 110° all allowing for very low moisture levels of approx. 4% ensuring our Rooibos stays green and maintains its distinct taste.
 

At Khoisan Gourmet we pride ourselves in providing customers with a bespoke, high quality, premium product. Our tea maker carefully considers the raw tea used to ensure it will meet customer requirements and approaches the blending, sifting and grading thereof in a meticulous manner. 
 

The Rooibos is steam sterilised in our state-of-the-art sterilisation and drying machines which reaches a maximum of 120° to guarantee the final product can be certified as hygienic superior quality Rooibos. Stringent bacteriological and quality controls are ensured throughout the production process.
 

Khoisan Gourmet produces and processes superior quality, certified Rooibos, Honeybush and Vanilla products.

Our products are annually reviewed by international organic certification bodies for EU, USDA/NOP - Canadian equivalent, JAS and KONKUK organic standards. Our products are also reviewed every year by ethical organisations such as Fairtrade, Fair for Life, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance. We meet religious requirements by Beth Din and NIHT (Kosher/Halaal) and food safety requirements such as HACCP and, soon, BRC.

Rooibos, Honeybush and Vanilla are natural agricultural products, with an array of flavour profiles that may be slightly different from harvest year to harvest year or even from field to field. With careful selection and blending of quality product, we ensure consistency and reliability of supply and have done so since 1997.

Strict internal quality control throughout our entire supply chain, which includes extensive independent accredited laboratory testing, is our norm. We offer full traceability from bush to brew. 
Our mission is to meet statutory and regulatory requirements and to exceed our clients’ specifications and expectations, so that we are sure every cup of Rooibos and Honeybush and every Vanilla pod is enjoyable every time.