Japan, a tea-drinking nation, is one of South Africa’s biggest importers of rooibos tea. In 2018, a record high of 2,000 tonnes of the homegrown blend was shipped off to the land of the rising sun.



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A tea room filled with reverence for the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. 



But first, the facts. To understand tea-drinking in Japan,
it is important to go through the following motions, starting with the communal
practice known as chadō (the way of tea) that is older than 800 years, in
which, in a hand-decorated cast iron bowl, green powder, known as matcha, is
whisked to make a dark green tea to be offered to guests. 



Tea was first brought to Japan from China in the seventh
century for medicinal purposes, and was regarded as a commodity that was
exclusively accessible to the noble and elite. 



According to Japanese historical beliefs, Myōan Eisai, a
Buddhist priest who introduced the school of Zen Buddhism to Japan, was one of
the first to inculcate the culture of tea in Japan. 



He wrote a book on the health benefits of drinking tea, as
well as the cultivation and preparation of green tea. 



By the thirteenth century, the tea drinking culture grew in
popularity among warriors and the elite, and by the sixteenth century, tea had
become a favorite for all social classes. 



Tea schools opened and the art of making tea gradually
evolved to more than just being a spiritual practice in Japan. 



It became one of respect with shared peace and friendship. 



The tea room is traditionally surrounded by a garden with a
tranquil atmosphere, emphasized by dull flowers without strong scents, to avoid
distraction.



A low entrance into the tea room suggests that guests are to
bow as a gesture of respect for the ceremony. 



Every movement, gesture and aesthetic, from the preparation
to the enjoyment of the tea, is designed to express friendship and
harmony.&nbsp; Guests watch on as the host
shares the moment and finally presents it to them, kneeling on cushions.



Once the bowl has circulated among the guests, it is handed
back to the host.The tools are cleaned and the ceremony is closed.



The Red Bush



Over 14,000kms away, across the Indian Ocean, a South
African enjoys a hot cup of ‘red tea.’



Its preparation may not be as dramatic as it is in Japan,
but it evokes the same sense of calm and serenity. It’s simply made by adding
tealeaves or a tea bag into a cup of boiling water, a few teaspoons of sugar
and having “a date with time”, as Swaady Martin, the founder of Yswara, an
African tea and teatime company, puts it. 



Martin, who has been in the tea industry for seven years,
with a focus on gourmet African teas, has tasted and sourced blends from
Malawi, Kenya and Rwanda but the South African rooibos is her favorite. 



“Rooibos is not a tea, it is a plant. I find it a miraculous
and wonderous plant. The fact that it only grows in one region of South Africa,
and that it has all these incredible properties, makes it a plant I love
dearly. I drink rooibos almost every day,” she says.&nbsp; 



Located in the heart of Johannesburg’s central business
district (CBD), Martin’s tea room, which is currently being refurbished,
embodies what she calls a meditative appeal that coincides with the tranquil
properties of tea. 



Tea lovers step into a room filled with silence and walls
done up in light pink hues representing a sunset in the desert.&nbsp; 



This is to encourage focus on the tea, as it represents the
removal of&nbsp; barriers between the
different social classes. 



“We have suffered in South Africa and also around the world,
with so much exclusion, the one thing that was important for Yswara was to give
inclusive luxury. For me, inclusiveness means being in a place where everyone
could have access.



“Being in town (CBD) was just that expression of being in
the midst of everything and everyone; and at the junction of what represents
the new South Africa,” Martin says. 



A South African Rooibos Council (SARC) industry fact sheet
published in 2018 states that the country’s geographical areas provide the perfect
environmental conditions for rooibos cultivation. 



The plant can be found in the Cederberg and Sandveld regions
of the Western Cape and the Bokkeveld area of the Northern Cape.



“The vital characteristics of this environment are the
Mediterranean climate with a winter rainfall between 200mm and 450mm per year;
deep, coarse and acidic sandy soils; and temperatures that can range from zero
degrees Celsius in winter months, to up to forty-five degrees Celsius in
summer,” the report says. 



Due to the indigenous properties of the Rooibos bush,
industry regulations stipulate that the term ‘rooibos’ be used responsibly. 



“The terms ‘Rooibos’, ‘red bush’, ‘Rooibostee’, ‘Rooibos
tea’, ‘rooitee’ and ‘Rooibosch’ may only be used when the dry product, infusion
or extract is 100% pure rooibos. Furthermore, the notice stipulates that the
above terms (referring to rooibos) can only be used when the product was grown
in the geographic area as described in the application, i.e., the winter
rainfall area of South Africa,” the SARC report states. 



This uniquely-grown product is becoming&nbsp; a big deal across the globe, and the
tea-drinking nation, Japan, has fallen in love with the health benefits that the
South African tea provides. 



In 2016, rooibos exports increased to over 30 countries
across the globe; with Germany, Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom and the
United States (US) being the biggest importers. 



In 2018, one of the largest tea-drinking nations recorded
over 2,000 tonnes that were shipped into the Japanese shores, making it the
largest export since rooibos was first introduced to the Japanese 39 years ago.




For Martin Bergh, the Managing Director of Rooibos Limited
and the Chairperson of the SARC, the tea has been up against competition in the
Japanese tea market, which has over 26 different types of teas to consume,
ranging from the traditional green tea varieties to Jasmine and Barley, or the
sacred Mugicha. 



“The general trend toward natural health and wellness
products continue to exert a growing influence on purchasing patterns in the
region and as more of Rooibos’ health benefits become known in the East, we
anticipate the demand for the product to grow,” says Bergh.



Bergh points out that the Japanese are purists and therefore
prefer to drink rooibos tea unflavored, without milk or sugar.



“In the past, rooibos was consumed more in summer for
hydration, but has now become an all-year-round tea product consumed by all age
groups. A market as big as Japan’s 126 million-strong tea-loving population, is
always eager to experiment with new products. 



“Local retailers like Peacock Coffee &amp; Tea Traders have
adapted to the experimental flavors to quench the insatiable thirst of the
local and international market.” 



Kelebogile Monyaysi, the manager at Peacock Coffee &amp; Tea
Traders in Rosebank, Johannesburg, attentively prepares a cup of tea when we
visit. 



The loose tea leaves are cautiously stirred in a tea pot and
served at a small coffee table. &nbsp;



One half of the store is dedicated to coffee and the other
for tea. 



The smell of freshly-brewed coffee overpowers the aromatic
smell of tea. 



Tea sets range from vintage English style ceramics to
Japanese cast iron teapots.



A selection of rooibos tea blends with various flavored
options, ranging from organic rooibos to creamy caramel, as well as herbal
blends. 



This includes a Nelson Mandela range. 



The caffeine-free tea, according to Monyaysi, is popular in
the Japanese markets because of its natural healing qualities. 



Despite coffee being a popular beverage for sit-in
customers, rooibos tea is the most sought after locally too. 



“It (rooibos) is the center of attraction. This is a word
that they (tourists) can grab and not forget, so when they walk in here, it is
all they ask for,” she says. 



It took some time for Monyaysi to be stirred by tea.&nbsp; 



“I was not much of a tea-drinker. I only started to enjoy
tea when I began working here. Now, the first thing in the morning, I have to
drink a cup of tea and in the evening, before I go to bed. It is a habit – if I
don’t drink tea, I get a headache,” Monyaysi says, preferring the original
rooibos blend. 



Jessica Bonin, the founder of Lady Bonin’s Tea, a Cape
Town-based company that sources, blends, packages and distributes full leaf
teas, either loose or in biodegradable tea bags, offers more on the world’s
fetish for rooibos.



Lady Bonins’ teas and herbals are sourced locally and
internationally from farms that are organic without adding additives or
products that harm the environment. 



The rooibos is sourced by using a method known as “wild
pickings” – the process of collecting the rooibos that grows naturally in the
mountains. Due to the increase in demand for rooibos and rooibos products
globally, commercial farmers have scaled production unsustainably, leaving
environmental and societal damage in their wake. 



Bonin says that in countries like Japan and Thailand, black
tea is preferred, and it is predominantly used for the health benefits – making
it a herbal infusion. 



“They are buying it solely on the principle that it is a
caffeine-free, non-tea beverage. People are buying it as an alternative and
they are transfixed by its health properties. 



“It is enabling people who naturally use plants as medicine
for many years. In any Western country, you will need to justify the health
benefits, but in the Asian countries, it is the medicine they are interested
in. People are very healthy in Japan,” she says.



&nbsp;Although Bonin is
facing difficulties&nbsp; entering the export
market in Japan due to the high number of monopolies and conglomerates in the
industry, small amounts of exports also go to Germany and the US. 



Rooibos is a unique product that has infused the signature
South African taste and its ambience with the rest of the world. 



The Japanese may have their unique tea-drinking ceremonies and traditions but in Germany and the other countries that import the plant in millions, rooibos offers a cupful of experience that is incomparable and uniquely South African.  



&#8211; Gypseenia Lion

Wild Rooibos

What’s Brewing In Tokyo?

Tea is a global tradition, with countries all around the world having different values attached to the beverage. Tea is the world’s second most popular beverage, with different societies drinking it for pleasure, for healing purposes or to spend time with friends and family.
Yswara, a luxury tea company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, was launched in 2012. Its founder and CEO, Swaady Martin-Leke, a national of Côte d’Ivoire, hand-selects the tea from the various African countries, to incorporate into her company’s collection of 23 varieties of tea.
“I created Yswara out of the frustration of seeing one of Africa’s abundant commodities a victim of the commodity trap, [it’s] an international export with no to limited value-add done in Africa,” she says.
Yswara products aim to embody the spirit of Africa; they are all handcrafted and organically-inspired, with African provenance and cultural cachet.
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According to Martin-Leke, specialty tea is the fastest-growing segment within the industry, with gross margins above 60%. She says that consumers are increasingly looking for diverse origins and flavors of teas, and the niché gourmet tea market has only a few luxury brands. Most tea brands are in the premium and mass-market segments.
The growth of the Africa tea market will be driven primarily by an increasing consumer focus on health and wellness, and the continuing emergence of epicurean preferences in food and beverages.
“The gourmet tea market has been traditionally dominated by old French and English tea brands such as Mariage Frères, Dammann Frères, Fortnum &amp; Mason and Tea Palace. TWG from Singapore is challenging the French dominance over gourmet teas and demonstrated their increased popularity in both emerging and developed markets. TWG recorded $30 million in revenue in its first full year of operation after an investment of $10 million,” says Martin-Leke.
This curator of precious African teas wants to make her offering a prestigious product through educating customers on the quality and benefits of African teas, by creating an experience that includes African tea rituals, African-made tea paraphernalia and elegant packaging.
“I outsourced various suppliers such as Andrew Burke of Pure Publishing to work on the creative concepts thus providing Yswara with a brand identity. I also worked with Raynaldyne Molon, who has contributed to the development of international Nespresso, the redesigning the lobby for Victor Hugo and the restaurant company for L’Oréal Produits de Luxe and other clients. I also have great mentors who are experts in the field and guided me, such as Wilfried Guerrand, the head of Hermes Woman. I want Yswara to be placed next to Hermes soon, in the global markets,” she says.
Martin-Leke sources Yswara’s tea from South Africa, Malawi, Rwanda and Kenya with plans to source from Burundi, Cameroon, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. All her staff are women and the suppliers must be 75% female-owned or managed.
“The gourmet tea market in Africa will disappear if brands like Yswara and government initiatives in Africa, such as in Rwanda, don’t support the promotion of better quality tea. Africa will end up producing low-quality tea for mass consumption. Such teas are lower margins for our farmers,” she says.
The thirst for luxury goods in Africa requires in-depth understanding of the market’s mechanics, which differ from mass market businesses.
While Africa has more millionaires than Russia—the number of African millionaires rose 3.9% last year, faster growth than any region except Latin America—the majority of them shop in Europe for luxury goods because there is a very small market in Africa.
Africa’s rapid growth, booming cities and an aspirational middle-class are prompting luxury brands to enter untapped markets across the continent, although the difficulty of finding suitable sites for luxury stores means progress could be slow.
Building an African luxury brand has its challenges. Yswara hopes to be 100% made-in-Africa, by 2014. The main challenge is that Africa’s industrial setting is not accustomed to producing high-quality goods produced at a competitive cost, compared to China or India.
“We struggled to find suppliers who source or manufacture their products in Africa. Then, when world-class quality is met, the consistency is not guaranteed. For example, our tea tin manufacturer just closed this month and there is no alternative in sub-Saharan Africa,” she says.
Sub-standard quality affects a brand and makes it difficult to compete against international luxury brands.
“The cost of exporting outside of Africa is still too high. This is hampering growth of internet sales as well as opportunities to export out of Africa globally,” says Martin-Leke.
The South African specialty tea market only represents $250 million. With limited competition and an aggressive market entry strategy, based on opinion shapers and intensive education campaigns on tea quality, Yswara could grow revenues up to $8 million, or $12 million by year five of operations.
Yswara is targeting the international tea consumers, who are looking for a new tea experience and discover Africa as a tea region. Yswara will also expand globally from year four of operations [to Europe and the States]. We will start with online penetration and expand into direct and indirect retail.”
Packaging is a crucial element of a luxury brand. The brand stands for authenticity, refinement, timeless elegance and an Afropolitan lifestyle.
“The packaging is a key element of a luxury product; it is what the customer picks up. It is, together with the name, the carrier of the product’s luxury,” says Martin-Leke.
Yswara’s pay-off line is “Made in Africa for the World”, and the distinctive African wax Ankara print recalls the ambiance of West African culture.
Martin-Leke is already shipping her luxury tea around the world via her online store and online partners like africacandy.com.
“When going into the luxury market, push the barriers of excellence in Africa… and participate in making the continent a recognized destination for luxury goods rivaling its international counterparts. Africa is too often viewed as a place of low-quality goods and lack of refinement, while our thousands of years of culture, history, know-how and heritage demonstrate that we can do more than producing crafts and ethnic goods,” says Martin-Leke.

Tag: Tea

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What’s Brewing In Tokyo?

Queen Of The Luxury Leaf