Doing Good
Why We’re Going Beyond Sustainability
This limited-edition tea strengthens our commitment to regenerative farming.
At Yogi Tea, we’ve always believed that what is good for the natural world is good for us. Ethical, sustainable tea production was part of our founding vision and continues to this day. Part of that vision is creating a community of tea lovers who want to have a positive impact on the environment while supporting their wellbeing. That’s where teas such as our new Happy Farming blend come in.
Each box of this uplifting, comforting tea supports a regenerative rooibos farm in South Africa. Our continual partnership with the farm and investment in its long-term sustainability strategy helps to regenerate the landscape while upholding fair working conditions for farmers – a legacy that our community helps strengthen with every cup of Happy Farming steeped.
A Happier Farm
In 2022, only 2 percent of the world’s agricultural land was managed organically, and agriculture is a leading source of global carbon emissions, pollution, water consumption, and poverty, according to the World Wildlife Fund. As the world’s population grows, the need for resilient, sustainable farming becomes more urgent.
Hidden high in South Africa’s Northern Cederberg mountains is Klipopmekaar, an organic, carbon net-zero rooibos farm. Spread over 630 hectares and surrounded by 5,300 hectares of pristine wilderness, it’s one of the largest rooibos farms in the world – land this family-run operation has actively chosen to conserve. Not only do Klipopmekaar’s regenerative farming practices help sequester carbon from the atmosphere, but the farm also conserves and protects the indigenous plants and animals that live in this wild, mountainous landscape.
What Is Regenerative Farming?
Regeneration goes a step further than sustainability, ensuring that farming practices not only do no harm, but actively make the ecosystem healthier. The Bowsher family, who owns Klipopmekaar, embraced low-impact farming with minimum tillage from the start, before moving to no-till in 2019. They also rotate multispecies cover crops to replenish soil organic matter between rooibos harvests.
The long-term goal is to improve soil biology, creating biodiverse micro-environments that support flourishing rooibos without the need for fertilizers. Hundreds of soil samples collected over the last decade showed that their farming practices are increasing nutrient levels, building organic material, and storing carbon in soils (approximately 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide, to be exact). Alongside using renewable power like solar, this has allowed Klipopmekaar to achieve carbon zero status, meaning the farm stores much more carbon than it emits.
How Happy Farming Tea Helps
Grants from The Yogi Foundation funded equipment to make natural compost-based fertilizers, rich in diverse fungal life, that are applied to the farm’s fields every spring. This helps young rooibos plants set down stronger roots in their vulnerable early life. Additionally, Yogi’s ongoing partnership enables the research and development of new, innovative farming techniques.
Not only are we delivering high-quality, organic tea, but we’re collaborating with farmers who share our vision for driving positive change. Perhaps most importantly, this regenerative approach has boosted Klipopmekaar’s rooibos yield by about 50 percent, directly benefiting local farmers in South Africa and supporting a holistic approach to sustainability that considers people and environment.
Learn more about Klipopmekaar and their regenerative approach