as government remains weak on
Photo © Reuters/Mike Hutchings
Workers sweep leaves of drying Rooibos tea in the remote mountains of the Cederberg region
Small farmers in a stir tea trademark as government remains weak on
20 .THE BIG ISSUE. 25 APRIL 13 - 25
MAY 13
ROOIBOS FARMING SPECIAL REPORT
Following a national outcry in February after the South African public discovered that a French company is attempting to trademark the name “rooibos”, Emma McGarrity travelled to the Western Cape’s red tea growing region to investigate what the impact will be on small-scale farmers if rooibos becomes as French as champagne
“
M
y mother didn’t have enough mother’s milk for all her 12 children, so I was fed on rooibos as a substitute. Rooibos is in my veins,” says Barend Salomo, managing director of the Wupperthal Original Rooibos Cooperative (Worc). “We have loved and used rooibos for generations; for another country to claim it isn’t right.” Salomo, one of many rooibos farmers in the Wupperthal Valley whose knowledge of the tea was passed down generationally from his Khoi-San forefathers, is referring to French investment firm Compagnie de Trucy’s attempt to trademark “rooibos” in France. “It makes me very unhappy,” says fellow farmer Rodger Witbooi, a member of the Cederberg Suiwer Rooibos Association. As an interim director representing previously disadvantaged communities on the South African Rooibos Council (Sarc), Witbooi is clear on who should own the rooibos trademark: “Rooibos is unique to South Africa; it does not belong to France.” A cultural legacy unique to South Africa, indigenous rooibos grows only in the unique ecosystem of the Western Cape’s Cederberg region. There’s no disputing the Cederberg is the red bush’s natural home, or that it was first used as a tea and health remedy by the Khoi-San from whom many rooibos farmers today descend. Despite the tea’s clear roots, should Compagnie de Trucy’s trademark bid be successful, the South African rooibos industry will have to pay it royalties for any product labelled or marketed as “rooibos” in France. The trademark would also allow Compagnie de Trucy to label and market products containing only a low proportion of the indigenous red bush as “rooibos” — a dilution of a traditionally pure product which
25 APRIL 13 - 25 MAY 13 .THE BIG ISSUE. 21
Photo © Shayne Robinson
Small-scale farmers are set to be hard hit should South Africa lose the rooibos trademark to France
farmers caution will destroy the local industry’s reputation. But the biggest blow will be financial. Because France is the largest importer of the tea worldwide, the royalty price tag would be devastating for the local rooibos industry, with small-scale farmers expected to be hardest hit. Of the estimated 5 000 people employed by the South African rooibos industry, small-scale farmers are particularly vulnerable because rooibos is the only suitable crop affordable enough to farm in the Cederberg region. In the case of the farmers represented by Worc, only 7% of the land available to them is appropriate for agriculture. Of that, 3% is used for subsistence vegetable gardens, leaving only 4% to farm rooibos. “It is not possible to farm vegetables [commercially] here…rooibos is the only economic possibility for our survival,” laments Salomo. With the average cooperative member earning around R1 200 a month, Salomo is not exaggerating when he says Compagnie de Trucy’s trademark bid would be a death knell for many small farmers: “If the trademark was taken away from us, it would kills us.” “Small-scale farmers are expected to suffer more as their businesses are less elastic,” agrees Fairtrade South Africa Business Manager, Arianna Baldo. “A loss of trademark rights and a decline in market access will possibly translate in loss of income and livelihood.”
Cooperatives Surprisingly, rooibos exports have outgrown domestic sales in recent years, with the foreign market currently purchasing up to 7 500 of the 12 000 tonnes of the tea produced annually. Rooibos’ growing international popularity has allowed small-scale farmers to evolve beyond subsistence farming and to form cooperatives. The cooperative approach enables small-scale farmers to negotiate higher selling prices. It also makes it easier and more affordable to gain sustainable and responsible farming accreditation from certification organisations such as UTZ and Fairtrade, which in turn boosts sales among socially-conscious customers and earns the farmers a premium. Many cooperatives have used their
22 .THE BIG ISSUE. 25 APRIL 13 - 25
MAY 13
A unique cultural legacy: indigenous rooibos grows only in the Western Cape's Cederberg region
ROOIBOS FARMING SPECIAL REPORT
chairman of Intellectual Property at Stellenbosch University, wrote on his university blog. “The South African authorities have nonetheless taken no concrete or effective steps to protect and control the use of this term in South Africa or elsewhere.” The local industry’s anger has been compounded by the fact that Compagnie de Trucy’s is not the first foreign attempt to trademark the rooibos name. Beginning in 1995, the South African government and the rooibos industry became embroiled in 10 years of litigation with Burke International in the United States. This was after the company demanded royalties from the local rooibos industry for infringing upon the rooibos trademark it had registered in the United States. The case was eventually settled out of court in 2005 and Burke International released the name back into the public domain. Aggravating the farmers further is the fact that the South African government has long been advised to better protect uniquely South African products such as rooibos, most recently by EU ambassador to South Africa,
All Photos © Emma McGarrity
Name protection Following Compagnie de Trucy’s trademark application in late 2012, the South African rooibos industry has scrambled to protect the generic brand name internationally via Geographical Indication (GI) status. Issued by the World Trade Organisation, GI status would protect the rooibos name from appropriation, grant the South African rooibos industry the legal right to use the term “rooibos” anywhere in the world, and ensure that products marketed as a rooibos tea blend contain at least 80% rooibos. The application has, however, been denied because WTO rules dictate that GI status can only be considered if the product or name
‘ If the trademark was taken away from us, it would kills us
‘
premiums to invest in bettering their communities. Like the Driefontein Small Farmers Cooperative, which, since becoming Fairtrade and UTZ certificated in 2011 and 2012 respectively, has used premiums to build a community centre that includes a crèche, pre-primary classroom, after-school care and a kitchen to make lunches for school children. It has also funded a clinic, fully equipped gym, sports field and playing courts. A decline in income from overseas markets — especially the all-important French market — could jeopardise these self-funded development programmes, warns Gertjie Hofman, a Driefontein cooperative director.
— Barend Salomo has been protected by trademark in its country of origin. And herein lies the rub: the South African government has never trademarked rooibos domestically. In February, Sarc applied to the Department of Trade and Industry for domestic protection of the rooibos name and that lengthy process is ongoing. With the jury still out on Compagnie de Trucy’s application, only time will tell if this will be enough to keep rooibos South African. Meanwhile, much of the anger and disappointment over the French bid to “own” rooibos has been directed at the South African government as a result of it not taking earlier action to protect the name. “Rooibos is as typically South African as braaivleis and biltong,” Professor Owen Dean,
Roeland van de Geer. Echoing the frustration felt by many in the rooibos industry — from small scale farmers to large exporters — Geer questioned: “If you can’t protect rooibos, what can you protect?” TBI
COMMENT Comment on this story. SMS “TEA” followed by YOUR COMMENT and YOUR NAME to 33600. Maximum 160 characters per SMS. SMS charged at R1.50 each. A portion of proceeds goes towards The Big Issue’s job creation programme. You can also send your comments via email (at no charge) to: [email protected]
25 APRIL 13 - 25 MAY 13 .THE BIG ISSUE. 23
Workers sweep leaves of drying Rooibos tea in the remote mountains of the Cederberg region
Small farmers in a stir tea trademark as government remains weak on
20 .THE BIG ISSUE. 25 APRIL 13 - 25
MAY 13
ROOIBOS FARMING SPECIAL REPORT
Following a national outcry in February after the South African public discovered that a French company is attempting to trademark the name “rooibos”, Emma McGarrity travelled to the Western Cape’s red tea growing region to investigate what the impact will be on small-scale farmers if rooibos becomes as French as champagne
“
M
y mother didn’t have enough mother’s milk for all her 12 children, so I was fed on rooibos as a substitute. Rooibos is in my veins,” says Barend Salomo, managing director of the Wupperthal Original Rooibos Cooperative (Worc). “We have loved and used rooibos for generations; for another country to claim it isn’t right.” Salomo, one of many rooibos farmers in the Wupperthal Valley whose knowledge of the tea was passed down generationally from his Khoi-San forefathers, is referring to French investment firm Compagnie de Trucy’s attempt to trademark “rooibos” in France. “It makes me very unhappy,” says fellow farmer Rodger Witbooi, a member of the Cederberg Suiwer Rooibos Association. As an interim director representing previously disadvantaged communities on the South African Rooibos Council (Sarc), Witbooi is clear on who should own the rooibos trademark: “Rooibos is unique to South Africa; it does not belong to France.” A cultural legacy unique to South Africa, indigenous rooibos grows only in the unique ecosystem of the Western Cape’s Cederberg region. There’s no disputing the Cederberg is the red bush’s natural home, or that it was first used as a tea and health remedy by the Khoi-San from whom many rooibos farmers today descend. Despite the tea’s clear roots, should Compagnie de Trucy’s trademark bid be successful, the South African rooibos industry will have to pay it royalties for any product labelled or marketed as “rooibos” in France. The trademark would also allow Compagnie de Trucy to label and market products containing only a low proportion of the indigenous red bush as “rooibos” — a dilution of a traditionally pure product which
25 APRIL 13 - 25 MAY 13 .THE BIG ISSUE. 21
Photo © Shayne Robinson
Small-scale farmers are set to be hard hit should South Africa lose the rooibos trademark to France
farmers caution will destroy the local industry’s reputation. But the biggest blow will be financial. Because France is the largest importer of the tea worldwide, the royalty price tag would be devastating for the local rooibos industry, with small-scale farmers expected to be hardest hit. Of the estimated 5 000 people employed by the South African rooibos industry, small-scale farmers are particularly vulnerable because rooibos is the only suitable crop affordable enough to farm in the Cederberg region. In the case of the farmers represented by Worc, only 7% of the land available to them is appropriate for agriculture. Of that, 3% is used for subsistence vegetable gardens, leaving only 4% to farm rooibos. “It is not possible to farm vegetables [commercially] here…rooibos is the only economic possibility for our survival,” laments Salomo. With the average cooperative member earning around R1 200 a month, Salomo is not exaggerating when he says Compagnie de Trucy’s trademark bid would be a death knell for many small farmers: “If the trademark was taken away from us, it would kills us.” “Small-scale farmers are expected to suffer more as their businesses are less elastic,” agrees Fairtrade South Africa Business Manager, Arianna Baldo. “A loss of trademark rights and a decline in market access will possibly translate in loss of income and livelihood.”
Cooperatives Surprisingly, rooibos exports have outgrown domestic sales in recent years, with the foreign market currently purchasing up to 7 500 of the 12 000 tonnes of the tea produced annually. Rooibos’ growing international popularity has allowed small-scale farmers to evolve beyond subsistence farming and to form cooperatives. The cooperative approach enables small-scale farmers to negotiate higher selling prices. It also makes it easier and more affordable to gain sustainable and responsible farming accreditation from certification organisations such as UTZ and Fairtrade, which in turn boosts sales among socially-conscious customers and earns the farmers a premium. Many cooperatives have used their
22 .THE BIG ISSUE. 25 APRIL 13 - 25
MAY 13
A unique cultural legacy: indigenous rooibos grows only in the Western Cape's Cederberg region
ROOIBOS FARMING SPECIAL REPORT
chairman of Intellectual Property at Stellenbosch University, wrote on his university blog. “The South African authorities have nonetheless taken no concrete or effective steps to protect and control the use of this term in South Africa or elsewhere.” The local industry’s anger has been compounded by the fact that Compagnie de Trucy’s is not the first foreign attempt to trademark the rooibos name. Beginning in 1995, the South African government and the rooibos industry became embroiled in 10 years of litigation with Burke International in the United States. This was after the company demanded royalties from the local rooibos industry for infringing upon the rooibos trademark it had registered in the United States. The case was eventually settled out of court in 2005 and Burke International released the name back into the public domain. Aggravating the farmers further is the fact that the South African government has long been advised to better protect uniquely South African products such as rooibos, most recently by EU ambassador to South Africa,
All Photos © Emma McGarrity
Name protection Following Compagnie de Trucy’s trademark application in late 2012, the South African rooibos industry has scrambled to protect the generic brand name internationally via Geographical Indication (GI) status. Issued by the World Trade Organisation, GI status would protect the rooibos name from appropriation, grant the South African rooibos industry the legal right to use the term “rooibos” anywhere in the world, and ensure that products marketed as a rooibos tea blend contain at least 80% rooibos. The application has, however, been denied because WTO rules dictate that GI status can only be considered if the product or name
‘ If the trademark was taken away from us, it would kills us
‘
premiums to invest in bettering their communities. Like the Driefontein Small Farmers Cooperative, which, since becoming Fairtrade and UTZ certificated in 2011 and 2012 respectively, has used premiums to build a community centre that includes a crèche, pre-primary classroom, after-school care and a kitchen to make lunches for school children. It has also funded a clinic, fully equipped gym, sports field and playing courts. A decline in income from overseas markets — especially the all-important French market — could jeopardise these self-funded development programmes, warns Gertjie Hofman, a Driefontein cooperative director.
— Barend Salomo has been protected by trademark in its country of origin. And herein lies the rub: the South African government has never trademarked rooibos domestically. In February, Sarc applied to the Department of Trade and Industry for domestic protection of the rooibos name and that lengthy process is ongoing. With the jury still out on Compagnie de Trucy’s application, only time will tell if this will be enough to keep rooibos South African. Meanwhile, much of the anger and disappointment over the French bid to “own” rooibos has been directed at the South African government as a result of it not taking earlier action to protect the name. “Rooibos is as typically South African as braaivleis and biltong,” Professor Owen Dean,
Roeland van de Geer. Echoing the frustration felt by many in the rooibos industry — from small scale farmers to large exporters — Geer questioned: “If you can’t protect rooibos, what can you protect?” TBI
COMMENT Comment on this story. SMS “TEA” followed by YOUR COMMENT and YOUR NAME to 33600. Maximum 160 characters per SMS. SMS charged at R1.50 each. A portion of proceeds goes towards The Big Issue’s job creation programme. You can also send your comments via email (at no charge) to: [email protected]
25 APRIL 13 - 25 MAY 13 .THE BIG ISSUE. 23
