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When you buy any of our red espresso® products, you are helping us to make a difference. Here are some of the ways we give back.
In 2014 we launched our Seeds of Hope subsistence farming project to help small scale Rooibos subsistence farmers in the faraway mission town of Heuningvlei. With no means to buy Rooibos seeds, plough their land or transport their tea to market, we’re changing their lives by doing so for them and upskilling them in best-in-class Rooibos farming practices too.
At the end of the production cycle, we guarantee these farmers a consistent, premium price regardless of supply or market trends. The cash injection is unprecedented in the area. One farmer has upgraded his donkey cart to a Hilux; others have opened bank accounts for the first time ever. And what started as a trickle is rapidly becoming a stream.
The number of farmers participating in the program has increased exponentially with every passing year and today we work with more than 20 subsistence farmers and buy more than 40 tons of tea from them.
Since 2015 we have been donating funds every month to the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) for research and community projects that help those affected by the disease. We also host an annual Cuppa For CANSA tea party with our partners, the 12 Apostles Hotel in Cape Town, to help raise funds and awareness for the disease during breast cancer month, October.
red espresso® was selected by CANSA, an NGO committed to fighting cancer, as a “smart choice” for consumers due to its multiple health benefits that have been linked to cancer prevention. As a corporate social partner of CANSA, we donate a portion of our income to the organization every year. These funds help CANSA with their research and upliftment initiatives.
“red espresso®, a world first and proudly South African product that innovated Rooibos tea into an espresso, has been awarded the CANSA Seal of Recognition in recognition of its unique health properties. In addition to being naturally caffeine-free, red espresso® concentrates the antioxidants and health benefits of Rooibos tea, to a level where one serving (60ml red espresso®) equals 10 times the antioxidants of traditionally-brewed Rooibos and five times the antioxidants of green tea. Rooibos tea elevates blood glutathione levels (the master antioxidant in the body) which counteracts the process of ageing, the decline of the immune system, heart disease and the risk of cancer." Cancer Association of South Africa, CANSA.
Since 2010 we have sponsored the Reach for a Dream Foundation to fulfil the dreams of children faced with life-threatening illnesses.
Reach for a Dream fulfils in excess of 1,200 dreams every year and through their hospital initiatives, they reach a further 30,000 South Africa children. Their message is one of hope and inspiration. By creating happy moments in the lives of severely ill children they show that tomorrow is worth fighting for.
Since 2016 we have been a proud sponsor of the Ground UP Project which trains previously disadvantaged people to become professional baristas and finds work for them in the coffee and hospitality industries.
More than just a cup of coffee, this is a cup of hope. By partnering with the unemployed and training them to be professional baristas, we change lives from the Ground UP. red espresso® is a proud sponsor of the Ground UP Project (a Learn to Earn Initiative) which, in its first year of operating helped 45 previously-unemployed people to embark on careers in the coffee and hospitality industries.
As Rooibos grows only in the Cederberg, we’re committed to helping protect and preserve this unique habitat. We do this by farming as close to nature as possible, using biodiversity principles, and planting endangered trees back into the region every year.
This exquisite, seemingly untouched area (which is only 110km in radius) forms part of The Cape Floristic Region. The smallest of only six floral kingdoms in the world, it is also the richest. The converging currents of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans render this area an environmentally unique and highly biodiverse region with many plant species – including Rooibos – occurring there and nowhere else.
However, the Cederberg is under severe threat. Identified as one of the 25 most threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world, its conservation is now of critical global importance.
In 2010 we partnered with CapeNature to help save the highly endangered Clanwilliam Cedar tree (after which the Cederberg was named) from extinction. Through our Red Cedar Project, we’ve already planted more than 5000 Cedars back into the Cederberg.
“The cedar tree is highly endangered and is one of the most majestic icons of the Cederberg area.” Pete Ethelston, Co-founder.
In 2009, our primary farm was awarded the highest biodiversity rating in the Rooibos industry for farming as close to nature as possible. This means that our tea is grown in a sustainable, environmentally responsible way that has minimal impact on the biodiversity of the region. Although it takes much longer, our mountain tea grows naturally without irrigation. We also plant biodiversity corridors of proteas in between our tea fields to encourage bees to cross-pollinate. We follow organic practices and do not use herbicides, pesticides or irrigation. These are the things that are important to us.
