.jpg)
By Heneage Mitchell
South Africa’s rooibos tea has earned millions of fans around the world over recent decades. The unique, flavorful and healthy caffeine-free tea produced from the indigenous plant that grows only in the Cedarberg area of the Western Cape, 250km north of Cape Town, is about to face some serious competition from honeybush, another unique, indigenous South African plant with very similar properties.
Honeybush is a natural plant growing in the micro climate of the Fynbos region in the southwestern district of the western cape of South Africa. It is unique to this area. It grows wild, so all honeybush sold commercially is essentially organic and natural, even if it does not always have appropriate certification to indicate this fact.
The bushes are collected by entrepreneurial local residents who go into the surrounding hills with permission from the landowners to harvest the wild plant. The bushes are scythed and bundled and then sold to processors such as Honeybush Natural Products Pty. Ltd. (HNP) who pay a fixed price per species. There are three different species of honeybush that are commercially processed – although there are in fact 24 honeybush types. Commercial honeybush is usually a blend of more than one of three different species of the cyclopia (honeybush) plant. Each lends a particular quality to the final blend that gives it the unique flavor that consumers demand.
Regenerative plant
The most commonly found species in the Langkloof area is cyclopia intermedia. This plant is a slow growing, flavorful species, mostly found in higher, often stony mountain regions. Each bush can be harvested every two years. It is a resprouter, meaning when a veldt fire occurs, typically every seven years, the plant regenerates from its root system.
Cyclopia subternata and cyclopia maculata prefer valleys and lower lying soils also suitable for conventional agriculture. These are also flavorful plants, but they are faster growing than intermedia, and can be harvested every six months. Unlike their cousin cyclopia intermedia, these are reseeders, meaning they must regenerate themselves from seeds once the plant dies, usually as a result of a veldt fire.
All three varieties look completely different in their natural states, but all share similar inherent properties when fermented. As with South Africa’s other, unique tea plant, rooibos, the entire plant is utilized in the processing.
The indigenous population first discovered honeybush many generations ago, recognizing its health promoting benefits. The first records of honeybush use date back to the 17th century, but it is probable that it was known and used for thousands of years before this.
Commercial production was slow to develop, and honeybush consumption remained mostly a local phenomenon. Johan Kritzinger, HNP director, recalls that his grandfather experimented with honeybush fermentation using wet hessian bags placed over heaps of coarsely cut honeybush. The resulting product could be boiled on a slow-burning stove all day, providing a healthy, refreshing beverage for the household. But clearly, the coarseness of the tea precluded commercial marketing. It became known as the Poor Man’s Tea in the region as it was available for free.
.jpg)
Commercial production
It wasn’t until the early 1990’s that commercial production of honeybush was initiated. Techniques were developed and refined and the first honeybush tea products became available in retail outlets in South Africa by the late 1990’s. HNP started operations in 1996 and rapidly developed into the largest supplier of processed honeybush in the world.
By 2004, HNP joined forces with Rooibos Ltd., who at the time was HNP’s biggest customer. Rooibos became a major shareholder in the company, and also took on the responsibility of marketing and distribution of all HNP’s products.
HNP currently has a production capacity of 300 tons per year, but supply issues inherent in procuring a natural crop such as honeybush obviously impact the actual annual production.
The future for honeybush would appear to be extremely bright. A lot of research has already been undertaken by the scientific community that indicates many healthy properties. Honeybush is caffeine-free and contains a high content of antioxidants which are believed to have anti-cancer properties. Honeybush may also have beneficial effects on the heart, including relieving the symptoms of high blood pressure. Honeybush can also be blended with other herbs to create beverages with specific health benefits. In this age of consumer awareness and demand for healthful and tasty beverages, the demand for honeybush is growing fast. Therefore, increasing supply is of paramount importance.
"Honeybush is in the initial stages of commercial cultivation, and the current outlook is extremely positive," according to Kritzinger. "HNP has been continuously involved in research with the aim of developing techniques to allow commercial farming of the three species of the plant to boost the availability of the raw material, bring down costs and grow the market," he said. "The results so far are very encouraging. We have healthy bushes that have been growing for over 10 years, and have successfully grown all three species from seed and we are continuing to see positive results. I expect to see commercial plantings within the next 2-3 years."
.jpg)
Production
Bundles of honeybush are delivered to HNP by the independent gatherers. Once sufficient stocks are on hand, the bushes are fed into cutting machines where the leaves and branches are reduced to a fine cut. The product is then fed into a steam fermenter which heats it to 85ºC for 18 hours. This process serves the dual function of fermenting the tea and pasteurizing it, removing all microbial and bacteriological components.
During fermentation, the enzymatic oxidization processes that take place result in a change of flavor characteristics and color. The hot, wet tea is now fed into a three-stage fluid bed dryer, emerging at the end of the process with a moisture content of 8%. The finished product is then filtered through a series of increasingly small sieves into three different sizes: dust, fine cut and coarse. The coarse material is fed into another cutter that reduces the particle size to acceptable limits. The dust particles are stored and are not included in the shipped product.
Once bagged in sacks, honeybush tea can be stored for up to five years, although in practice this never actually happens because of the high demand and limited availability. What is produced currently has no difficulty in finding a ready market.
Honeybush is predominantly consumed in its natural state, although its unique flavor adds zest and depth when used as an ingredient in herbal blends. It mixes extremely well with rooibos, and rooibos honeybush blends are a fast-growing segment on their own.
Honeybush is packed in 20kg polypropylene bags, palletized and shipped to customers worldwide. It is available in bulk or pre-packed. Rooibos Ltd. provides contract packaging services that include "just in time" contract packaging in various sizes of foil pouches, with flat bags, or individually enveloped, double chambered string and tag bags in catering and pre-printed (to customer’s specs) cartons and retail packs. Currently single (pillow) and double chamber string and tagged teabags, individually wrapped in moisture proof, branded envelopes are available.
Sustainable supplies
Commercially, honeybush is still in its infancy. As sustainable supplies of honeybush increase the success rooibos has enjoyed will inevitably accrue to it. Completely pure and natural, naturally caffeine-free, low in tannins, high in antioxidants, natural honeybush tea and honeybush extracts are certain to see increased demand. Accordingly, we can expect to see honeybush RTD beverages appearing on supermarket shelves in time, and honeybush extracts will be finding their way into the same types of applications as rooibos extracts.
These are exciting times for honeybush aficionados, and it is only a matter of time before this unique South African herb becomes a staple beverage for millions of consumers around the world.