The bundles of rooibos harvested the previous day are untied and the rooibos divided into smaller bundles which are then fed into the chopping machines to be cut into a fine consistency (typically 0.7 – 4 mm. in length).

To have a good quality cut, the blades of the machines are sharpened every 7-11 minutes.

After the rooibos has been through the cutting machines, it is put into fermentation heaps.

We wet the heaps and turn it inside-out (as in the pictures) to spread the water evenly.

The rooibos now starts to ferment and will turn red. The fermentation process stretches through the night.

We constantly monitor the temperature of the fermentation heaps to ensure that the rooibos does not over- or under-ferment.

The next morning, between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. the fermentation heaps are opened up and spread over the drying court.

To help the drying process along (everything is done open-air) the rooibos is turned over at certain intervals to get the wet rooibos at the bottom on top.

The dried rooibos is collected mechanically directly into bulk bags for storage.

When the bulk bags go into storage, each bag receives the batch number for that specific day’s batch of dried rooibos. This batch number ensures traceability of the rooibos from the field to the consumer. From the storage facility it will go to a packaging facility to be packed.