The Sekhukhune region in Limpopo is home to a deep cultural heritage, something Nondumiso Phaahla discovered in 2012 after inheriting a 217-hectare farm from her in-laws. Today, Nondumiso runs Setsong Tea Crafters with her daughter, Retang Phaahla. We sat down with Retang for some agripreneurial insights.
South Africa’s history with tea can be traced back over 300 years, with the beverage still forming part of most of Mzansi’s cultures in one form or another. For the women of Setsong Tea Crafters, crafting their tea brand was intricately linked to Pedi tradition.
They started the brand in 2013, under the concept of Bapedi are boeleng setsong, which means “Pedi people, let’s go back to our culture, roots, and heritage”.
With the Setsong Tea Crafters brand, the Phaahlas do not just uplift indigenous Pedi culture, but they also ensure the upliftment of women and youth in the Sekhukhune region.
A streamlined manufacturing process
Retang explains that the manufacturing process is around two weeks long and is heavily dependant on women in the rural area.
“Our manufacturing process starts with wild harvesting. We work with indigenous plants that naturally grow in the Sekhukhune area, and we’ve identified different villages in Limpopo where these indigenous plants are growing. We then train women within these communities on sustainable harvesting methods, so they do the wild harvesting.”
Retang says that, after harvesting, the women supply local agro-processing co-operatives with the raw material. The co-operatives do the sorting, washing, milling, and drying of the material. After it is dried, the tea then undergoes quality assurance.
“It is sifted, and we look for the specific particle sizes that we require. It then has to go for taste testing to see that those batches are the required quality. Then from there, we take over the process to do the value addition, where we infuse the teas with different flavours.”
Some of the flavours are made with herbs like ginger and tumeric, she says, and are sourced from local farmers. Others, like strawberry for instance, are liquid flavours sourced from flavour houses.
“Because we’re organically certified, we only work with natural ingredients. So none of our flavours are infused with artificial flavourants. From there, we do the blending and infusion, and then we have another phase of taste testing to see if each batch is consistent. Then it also goes for another round of drying.”
Once the tea is dried for a second time, it is packaged and distributed to the market.
Making the most of the informal market
Like many agriprenuers, the Phaahlas face challenges related to upscaling their business so that it reaches the mainstream market. Retang explains that, for a small business to upscale, they need to meet certain standards that require a high amount of capital.
“Being a small business, you need quite a few resources to be able to reach the standards that mainstream retailers and even international markets are looking for. There’s a food safety accreditation that needs to be acquired, which involves getting your factory to a certain standard, training your human resource, and also capacitating the production team within your staff.”
She says because they are working with rural communities, they had to spend many years really helping those communities shift from indigenous processing to more commercial standards.
“Finding the resources is quite a challenge, but you have to spend a lot of time building up the business case in order to show investors that it’s a business worth investing in. So that you can then improve your quality standards, get your factory to the right specifications, and then actually meet the requirements of the mainstream market.”
While they are working on expanding their business, Retang highlights that the Setsong Tea Crafters are being sustained by their informal local market.
“It is mostly the informal local market that keeps it running. So, although the main goal is to get into the mainstream market, the local informal market is able to really bring in customers. It has helped us build up our brand story and forced us to be creative in terms of how we market our products, which is direct to customers and not just looking through retail channels. The direct-to-customer approach is what has kept us going.”
Retang’s advice to aspiring agripreneurs
“Consumers are looking for unique products now. You really need to have a strong differentiator on what you’re selling – whether it’s your story, or whether it’s the benefits of the product. Before putting a product into market, you need to understand your unique selling point and leverage on that.”
She says leveraging their story is exactly what has built up the Setsong Tea Crafters brand, and though they are not yet where they want the brand to be, their story has reached many audiences.
“We’re selling more than just a product, we’re selling a story. And that’s what consumers are looking for, especially when it comes to tea. They’re looking for health benefits, they’re looking for a good story, they’re looking for impact.
“Fair trade in the beverage space is also becoming something that consumers are very conscious about. So if everybody just focuses on their uniqueness and on really understanding what the benefit to the customer is, it makes it easier to penetrate the market.”
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