Sourcing and export

Bulk sacks or finished packs: packing before or after the border

A released lot leaves secondary processing by one of two routes. Most rooibos goes into lined bulk bags on pallets and is packed overseas, by an importer's own packer or a contract packer, into tea bags, loose packs, blends, extracts or ready-to-drink products under a brand the South African processor may never see. Some goes into retail packs in South Africa, for domestic shelves or for export as a finished product under a South African or a private-label brand. The route changes who holds the lot's identity: in bulk, the lot code on the bag is the only thread back to a harvest; once repacked overseas, the brand owner's lot code takes over and the thread depends on the packer's records.

The roles along these routes are separable. The exporter of record need not be the producer or the processor; the packer need not be the brand owner; the importer may be a hub that re-exports, so the country of destination is not necessarily where the tea is consumed. The destination chapter draws the Council's dated tables with that caveat attached, and the directory lists who says they do which of these jobs. The supply chain explorer puts the export and packing stages in order, with packed product able to cross the border as well as bulk.

Retail packing and the barrier

Packing happens on one side of the border or the other. Bulk leaf that is exported is filled into packs at the destination by an importer, a contract packer or a brand owner; product packed in South Africa goes to domestic shelves directly, or is exported and then warehoused, labelled where the market requires it, and distributed as it is. Everything exported therefore passes through a destination packer or distributor before retail, but a packed export does not have to be repacked, and bulk leaf never reaches a shelf unpacked.

A pack does four jobs: it holds a stated mass, it keeps moisture, odour and light away from the leaf, it carries a lot code, and it makes claims. The first three are engineering: fill mass and bag performance for the cut, a moisture barrier that matches the stated shelf life, and a code that traces back through the packer's records to the released lot and from there to the harvest. The fourth is paperwork: what a label may say about origin, type and status depends on the destination market's rules and on documents the supplier can actually produce; a claim the supply chain cannot document does not belong on the pack. Blends, extracts and ready-to-drink products are finished products with their own microbial, allergen and stability questions; nothing said here about dried leaf transfers to them unchanged.

The handover checklist

Whoever hands a lot to the next role in the chain, a grower to a processor, a processor to an exporter, an exporter to a packer, should be able to hand over these with it:

1. Lot and specification. The lot identity and the written specification the lot was released against.
2. Sample and analysis. A representative sample drawn from the lot being handed over, and the certificate of analysis for that lot, with methods and laboratory.
3. Packing format. Bag or pack type, net mass, liner or barrier, pallet and container plan.
4. Actual grade and cut. The sieve distribution and the supplier's name for it, so that the name can be checked against the number.
5. Delivery basis and responsibility. The trade term, when risk and title pass, who insures transit, and who holds the inspection approval.
6. Storage and traceability. How the lot was stored, for how long, and how its movements can be traced in both directions.
7. Intended market. The destination and the documents that destination requires, so that a lot is not released into a market whose paperwork it cannot meet.
8. Acceptance. How the receiver will accept or reject, against which sample, and what happens if the shipped lot does not match.

Value is added at each handover, and so are costs: conversion and wastage in processing, blending, pasteurising, packaging, transport, inspection, tax and the margins of each channel. A retail shelf value minus a farm-gate return is therefore not the processor's profit, and not anyone's; it is the sum of everything between two very different products. This library describes those additions qualitatively, because no publicly supported, comparable figures for them exist, and publishes no figure of its own.

Packaging and lot identity

Bulk rooibos travels in paper, nylon or flexible intermediate bulk bags of a stated net mass, stacked on pallets in a container plan agreed with the buyer. The official export standard covers containers, outer containers, bulk containers, traceability and marking, including product identity, packer details, mass, origin, lot and date information and the relevant food-business codes, with provisions for destination requirements. Suppliers publish their own configurations, which differ by cut: a long cut is lighter per bag than a fine cut, so bags, pallet loads and container loads differ with the product. Confirm density, bag construction, pallet plan and loading approval with the supplier rather than from a catalogue. The farm behind this library packs in 40 kg nylon bags, 350 kg FIB bags, 20 kg paper bags, which are listed on its trade page.

The export standard and the inspection

An official export standard for rooibos sets quality and safety requirements, container and marking rules and traceability; it is a dated instrument with amendments, and the current consolidated version must be checked before a transaction. The Perishable Products Export Control Board carries the quality-inspection and food-safety mandate under the Agricultural Product Standards Act, and exported rooibos passes its inspection. An inspection is not a promise of sterility, and an export approval does not replace the importer's own destination compliance obligations. Coordinate notification, sampling, approval and the document route with the inspection authority.

The export file

Keep the signed order and specification, the invoice, the packing list, a lot mass balance, the certificate of analysis, the current inspection approval, origin and any certification evidence, transport documents and whatever destination-specific import or plant-health documents apply. Applicability varies by product and importing country; this is a planning list, not a rule that every shipment needs every certificate. Check the container for cleanliness, dryness, odour, damage and loading condition, record the seal number and dispatch photographs, and agree in writing who insures transit and when risk and title transfer. Trade terms such as Incoterms allocate delivery and risk; they do not replace the payment, quality and ownership clauses in the sale contract.

Storage and the three clocks

Three different clocks run on a lot. Shelf life is the supplier's statement of how long the product stays suitable in its packaging; one processor states a multi-year best-before for its plain rooibos, which is that processor's example and not a universal figure, and does not transfer to green rooibos, extracts or flavoured blends. Export approval validity is the inspection status, which the standard allows to be granted for a bounded period and re-evaluated; it is not a best-before. Commercial storage terms allocate cost, ownership, losses and insurance while the lot waits. Keep lots identified and movements traceable; separate incoming, released, quarantined and rejected material; protect food from water, chemicals, odour transfer, pests and damaged packaging; monitor temperature and humidity with calibrated instruments; inspect roofs, drainage and container condensation risk before the wet season and before dispatch; and agree resampling and release rules after damage or long holding.

Origin, certification and the name

The protected designation of origin for Rooibos / Red Bush attaches to leaf from a defined area and sets product criteria of its own. What a buyer can print depends on the destination market's rules and on the supplier's paperwork, so ask what documents exist before designing a label. Organic status, fair-trade status, food-safety systems and religious certifications are each proven by current certificates from their issuers, not by a sentence on a website; certification schemes may also publish floors and premiums for rooibos, which are schedules rather than market prices. Ask for current copies and check validity with the issuer.

Sourcing questions

1. Which bag sizes and materials do you ship in, what is the net mass of each, and what is your pallet and container plan for this cut?
2. How are bags sealed, palletised and protected from damp in transit?
3. What is the minimum order for each packaging size, and the lead time from confirmation to dispatch?
4. Which documents accompany a shipment, and which destination-specific documents can you obtain?
5. When does title pass, who insures transit, and on what trade term is your quotation made?
6. What shelf life do you state for this grade, on what basis, and how was the lot stored before dispatch?

The brief builder adds a shipping-documents question for your destination automatically.