About Us

Our Team

richard bowsher

Managing Director

Richard Bowsher

karin bowsher

HR & Social Responsibility

Karin Bowsher

Neill Janse van Rensburg

Farm Manager

Neill van Rensburg

Farm Foreman

Willem Witbooi

Marketing Manager

Travis Lyle

Farm Administrator

Anita van Rensburg

Team Leader

Rapelang Molefi

kerneels schalkwyk

Team Leader

Kerneels Schalkwyk

Who We Are

Klipopmekaar is one of the largest organic rooibos farms in the industry. We’re located high up in the Northern Cederberg mountains, one of the few top-quality rooibos production regions.

 

We farm, produce, process and export hundreds of tons of excellent quality organic rooibos direct to specialty and premium tea brands worldwide.

 

We’re passionate about single estate rooibos, and its ethical & sustainable production/supply for the long-term benefit of all stakeholders in our business.

icon of a metal bird

Our Story

view of rooibos farm
view of a rooibos farm

Klipopmekaar is a family owned and managed business. The Bowsher family started farming rooibos in 2007, acquiring 6000 HA of pristine Cederberg mountain wilderness with excellent terroir for high-quality production.

Although the fields had been previously farmed, there was no infrastructure at all. The only thing standing was an old bus and camp site; nobody lived on the farm, and there was no running water or power supplied to the farm.

The opportunity identified was to build a modern and innovative rooibos production and export business that differentiated itself through quality, authenticity, sustainability, transparency and direct global supply to premium tea brands.

In 2008, Klipopmekaar became one of the first independently certified organic rooibos farms. By forming a “brains trust” with other leading farmers, innovative ideas and best practices have been learned and shared since the get-go.

Growth in the health, herbal and specialty tea markets, combined with consumers’ desire for ethically produced single estate origin organic products, has been a catalyst for our growth. Today, the growing market we serve, combined with our passionate pursuit for rooibos excellence, has resulted in Klipopmekaar becoming an industry leader in organic rooibos production and direct supply to premium tea brands worldwide.

We now proudly hold a wide range of organic certifications, and are certified organic by ECOCERT SA to supply European (EU), North American (NOP/USDA) & Japanese (JAS) markets. In addition, all our organic rooibos is also certified by UEBT / Rainforest Alliance (RA).

In April 2024, Klipopmekaar became the first carbon net-negative rooibos producer/supplier within the entire rooibos industry (to the best of our knowledge). We’re very proud of this achievement, as it means that our organic, no-till, and regenerative agriculture endeavours have successfully trapped thousands of tons of soil carbon annually, whilst our GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions (cradle to gate and gate to gate/client) are in the low hundreds of tons. For our valued clients, this means that when they buy rooibos from us, it’s delivered as Carbon Net-Zero product at their local warehouse or destination port.  

Our family’s approach to the land we farm, our co-workers, and our business aims to be sustainable, inter-generational and long term. We value learning and continuous improvement. Key areas of focus for us at the moment include irrigation & climate change, regenerative agriculture, reducing carbon-footprint, and high-quality tea-making.

We also strive to build stable, long-term, enjoyable, and mutually profitable relationships with our valued customers. Our team looks forward to assisting with your enquiries.

Find out about the eight reasons why you should source your bulk organic rooibos from us here.

paul schlechter
Paul Schlechter, Farm Manager, 2009-2022

We thank Paul for his passionate contribution to Klipopmekaar’s creation and development!

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