Carmien Tea’s head office is found on the farm Brakfontein Estate, (one of the farms within the Mouton Citrus group), at the foothills of the Cedarberg mountain range in the Western Cape region in South Africa, some 2 hours drive from Cape Town. The narrow 30 000 hectare belt along the West Coast of South Africa in which Brakfontein falls, is the only place in the world where rooibos tea can be grown. This area is also one of the world’s six Plant Kingdoms.
Carmien Tea has since the deregulation of the Rooibos industry in 1995 established itself as a respected Rooibos producer & a supplier of an extensive range of packed Carmien rooibos teas in the South African retail sector and as a bulk exporter & private label packer to many countries around the globe. All Carmien rooibos products (packed & bulk) are available as ‘conventional’ or bio (organic), are produced on fair trade principles and the company is offering competitive quality products direct from the farm to their customers whilst ensuring total food traceability in the food chain.
Farmworkers have 11% equity in the Mouton Citrus farms. Carmien Tea has been positioned to act as an empowerment vehicle aimed at sustainable job and broad based wealth creation amongst farmworkers since inception in 2001 as independent export marketing company. Strategic partnerships with like minded commercial and fair trade producers, like Bergendal Farming operations, lead to the foundation of Bergendal Rooibos Pty Ltd, a rooibos processing plant and joint venture between Bergendal farmworkers, Bergendal Farming Operations and Carmien Tea.
‘’We pride ourselves in what we have achieved to date since we were in a position to produce, process and market our products on an independent basis outside the single channel Rooibos marketing board which monopolised the South African rooibos industry until 1995’’ said Mientjie Mouton, the managing director of Carmien Tea. ‘’We offer quality products, the company is customer & market driven, we invest & support in our people & local community in order to ensure production stability & a rewarding future for all involved for generations to come in the Rooibos industry.