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HEIVELD Cooperative Union (Fair Trade Rooibos)   

“There was a lot of rain this year and part of the rooibos tea has rotted. Heiveld is going to remunerate the producer and recover the loss from the insurance. In the past, we could not afford insurance. Wet tea at the time meant a pure financial loss, for the producer and the cooperative alike. Now, there is far less financial pressure - thanks to fair Trade.” Lestie of Heiveld

“In Heiveld I have learned a lot about growing rooibos. The future looks bright, because I have a share in the cooperative, even if my husband is not here, I can still stand on my own feet." Rachel Heiveld – 2009

Heiveld Cooperative Union was set up in 2000, ten years after the end of apartheid. It is located in a barren region of South Africa, 400 kilometres to the north of Cape Town, where small group of rich white tea farmers controlled the entire economy, while a large group of coloured farmers had to work for starvation wages on the tea plantations in order to make ends meet.

It is the first coloured cooperative in the region, at the beginning, fourteen coloured farmers joined forces, where they have set up the cooperative, Heiveld. The cooperative was developed in a participatory way, with high levels of transparency at each stage. The constitution specifies that 30% of the co-op's profits will be used for the benefit of people who have been disadvantaged on account of their gender or race. The rest of the profits are divided amongst the members. Heiveld has developed trading relations with fair Trade partners that are supportive of the co-op objective to achieve social justice. The fair Trade approach promotes social justice by selling products at premium prices, practice non-discrimination, concern on disadvantaged groups and passing the benefit on to the producers.