Green tea entrepreneur helps revive local economy

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Polokwane – An entrepreneur in Limpopo is doing his part to contribute to his community’s development and the country’s economic growth as South Africa continues to fight unemployment to balance its feet under tight global economic conditions.

Paul de Villiers, the CEO of KT Beverages Closed Cooperation (Kay T’s), is the man at the helm of the company that specialises in producing Kombucha Green Tea and Just Moringa Tea.

The company was visited by SAnews on Tuesday as part of a media tour to Limpopo to profile the success stories of the province. Kay T’s has been producing Kombucha Green Tea on a commercial basis for about eight years and has so far created about 58 sustainable jobs in Limpopo alone.

De Villiers said the entire production can be referred to as a brewery, as the process requires boiling and fermenting to get the final product, which is similar to producing wine and beer.

He took the media through his factory, from where he is growing plants, boiling and fermenting, packaging and getting orders ready for delivery.

“From day one of production, it takes about 40 days to complete the product. It is quite a while. It is quite expensive as well.

“I asked the IDC [Industrial Development Corporation] for a loan of about R4.8 million and it was granted. This involved buying more vehicles, expanding the plant and buildings and we are still at development stage today,” De Villiers said.

Even though there are about 58 employees under Kay T’s, De Villiers said the spinoff is that there are a few entrepreneurs selling the product all over the province and in Gauteng. They also sell across South African borders in countries like Botswana and Zambia. Zimbabwe is also looking into buying the product.

De Villiers said in the past month, 500 cases of Kombucha have been exported to Zambia. Locally, he supplies to the whole market, including wholesalers and retailers.

Kombucha is a known product overseas but it is still fairly new in South Africa, and this is one of the challenges facing Kay T’s - expanding the product and getting it moving off the shelves.

De Villiers started producing Kombucha 10 years ago and the product became commercial two years later, but he only received funding from the IDC about three years ago.

“We started very small but we learn as we grow,” said De Villiers.

He explained that what sets Kombucha apart from other beverages is that it is a health drink. There are no preservatives or additives involved. “It is quite a pleasant drink… It detoxes your body,” he said.

The green tea is produced in three flavours namely lemon, fruit cocktail and orange.

He used to get green tea from China through importers in Johannesburg but he recently found local farmers who now supply it to him. For Moringa, the tree can actually be found in South Africa, other parts of Africa and India.

De Villiers said Moringa tea works as a supplement and has anti-oxidants and a lot of vitamins.

The businessman is planning to produce other drinks in future, and soon Moringa Ice Tea will be available on the market to compete with the likes of Lipton Ice Tea.

Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) Regional Manager in Limpopo, Kgampi Bapela, said De Villiers’ approached the IDC as an entrepreneur to apply for funds. Bapela said he would probably not have succeeded if he approached banks as his product was new to South Africa.

“We liked his idea. We saw it through from its infancy and we are happy to see developments,” he said.

What makes small businesses such as KT Beverages stand out, according to Bapela, is that they create jobs and contribute towards the growth of other companies by outsourcing certain services such as designing bottles and branding.

Bapela was positive the business would expand its wings across the nation.

The IDC is 76-year-old Development Finance Institution (DFI) and one of the oldest in the world.

Bapela said the success of KT Beverages was representative of the IDC’s passion for small businesses.

He said many more jobs could be created by similar ventures in the province.

“Our funding ranges from R1 million to R1 billion, but we do have projects that go beyond that [amount]. For us it is all about developmental impact,” said Bapela.

The IDC in Limpopo channels its funding to sectors like agro-processing, tourism, mining and others.

Bapela said the IDC is currently funding a number of businesses in Limpopo, but chose to invite the media to tour KT Beverages because of its uniqueness.

The media tour, hosted by Brand South Africa in partnership with the Departments of Home Affairs and Trade and Industry, National Research Foundation, will include visits to various projects in the province. - SAnews.gov.za