Vusumzi Mokoena brews success with tea
An entrepreneur is tasting sweet success with his Mavusana Premium Rooibos tea brand.
Vusumzi Mokoena (28) from Kayamandi in Stellenbosch in Western Cape has started selling his own blend of the world-renowned South African tea.
Mokoena’s blend is made from the fynbos rooibos plants found in the Cape region.
“Mavusana brings a quality, raw, strong taste to the people at a very affordable price,” he explains.
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The tea is manufactured with the assistance of local expert tea makers and is a hit with the community. Around 40 packets are sold a day in Stellenbosch alone, says Mokoena.
“Rooibos tea is loved by everyone, so we sell it to the members of our community, local retail outlets and those who place special orders. The sales from around Stellenbosch have been growing and the people are buying in their numbers.”
Mokoena said the main aim of his enterprise is to introduce a healthy, hot beverage to every household in South Africa, then to the world.
He adds that he is looking to grow the Mavusana Premium Rooibos brand in communities by getting young people to become distributors of the brand.
This, Mokoena believes, will help drive entrepreneurship and create employment opportunities in South Africa.
As the budding tea baron does not yet have a farm to grow his own tea, Mokoena sources his leaves from farms in the area that are already trading internationally. He then sends it off to a company that processes the tea to meet his high standards.
“I don’t have a factory yet or a farm, so I am working very closely with Cape Natural Tea Products. They process the tea according to our expectations and we test and taste the final product. Once that is done, we package the tea and sell it.”
Mavusana has created two job opportunities since Mokoena started in January.
For more information on purchasing Mavusana Premium Rooibos vist https://www.mavusana.co.za
Written by Silusapho Nyanda
This article was originally published in the GCIS Vuk’uzenzele.