Agulhas Honeybush Tea has practiced organic farming for years, but officially received its formal organic status and certification in 2015.
This certification acknowledges that the farm plants and processes its tea organically therefore ensuring Agulhas Honeybush Tea can be sold as 100% organic to national and international markets.
The accreditation of an organic certificate also ensures that Agulhas Honeybush Tea farm does not use chemical pesticides for weeds, insects or disease control and that it doesn’t use chemicals for fertilization. The farm tries farming as close to nature as it possibly can, while maintaining its intention of sustainable farming practices while expanding its tea fields.
Agulhas Honeybush Tea has, since its establishment, invested in farming and production practices that have upheld the organic product that is created regardless of external conditions.
In fact, the tea used to be sundried on drying beds until it became more effective for the tea to be dried naturally in greenhouses so as to avoid relying on suitable weather conditions. This ensures the quality of the tea remains good, given that it always dries below the required 10% of moisture in the greenhouses.
Although the tea is dried inside these greenhouses, no electricity or other form of man-made power is used. Windows designed to open and close depending on the moisture level of the tea being dried are used to monitor the drying process, also in keeping with organic farming methods. Agulhas Honeybush Tea strives towards production structures in which there is no organic or natural waste that is created.
Honeybush is the name of an indigenous fynbos shrub in South Africa. The plant is a member of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family and has yell...