About Us
MELMONT: Pure and Simple
Melmont Honeybush Tea
is an exclusive product for many reasons
Melmont Honeybush Tea originates entirely from one estate. We harvest our own tea, which has a known and documented history. There is no mixing with tea from other sources, to ensure high quality and consistent taste.
Only mature plants are harvested, ensuring the younger plants time to flower and produce seeds.
Melmont Honeybush Tea is a completely natural certified organic beverage i.e. it contains no contaminants, colourants, preservatives, other additives or chemical residues. Only after PPECB’s laboratory analysis and batch certification, approved tea products are released.
In this remote area, surrounded by the Baviaans Mega Reserve, there are no other farming or industrial practices that could compromise the natural organic integrity of our tea.
The name of Melmont is a conjunction of Latin words:
“Mel” means honey
“Mont” means mountain.
Thus, Melmont Honey Bush tea is Honey from the mountain.
The yellow flowers in autumn have a scent like honey.
Harvesting And Processing of Our Teas
With care, Mountain Honeybush regenerates within three years after harvesting. In consequence, less than one third of the mountain yield is available for harvesting each year by rotation.
Step 1
A team of trained workers ascends the mountain once a week from spring to autumn (weather permitting) and systematically cuts earmarked Honeybush shoots. Dry weather is a prerequisite.
No fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals pollute the isolated area, and the mountain air is fresh and pure.
Step 2
The harvested shoots of green tea are bundled and hooked onto an 800 – 1000m long overhead slide for descent to a soft landing and a waiting truck far below. Thereby the need for building roads is eliminated, which is to achieve less impact on the environment.
The load is sealed off, and a long, winding journey down the valley follows.
Step 3
At the processing plant, the green shoots are cut and fed into stainless steel cylinders, where the unhurried, natural fermentation is optimized through careful humidity and temperature control.
The rich, ever-fragrant golden brown tea leaves that emerge are spread out on large drying trays and allowed to cool and dry in the sun.
Step 4
As a final step, the tea leaves are screened for size and classification.
- On the left of the photo is the fresh green tea which has just been cut.
- In the centre you can see the warm, not yet dried or sifted, tea which has just come out of the tanks after the oxidation process in the stainless steel tank.
- Finally, on the right is the dried and sifted end product which his ready to be packed.
Export standards, according to the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, as well as organic standards from the EU and Japan are adhered to from start to finish.
Please, click the button below to see the assortment of Melmont Organic Mountain Honeybush Teas.
Quality Assurance
The Melmont Stamp guarantees the maintenance of the strictest standards of quality, hygiene and compliance with the requirements of organic culture and processing.
Each step in the harvesting and processing of Melmont Organic Mountain Honeybush tea is done according to Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP) and monitored by different quality systems:
HACCP
Our packhouse was the first Honeybush Tea packhouse that received HACCP certification.
Our entire production process is based on the standards and procedures of a Haccp system. Throughout the production process, laboratory tests are conducted at critical control points to guarantee a hygienic, safe, quality product. It is our goal to maintain the holistic properties and improve the quality and safety of our product by adhering to specifications.
SAGap
Melmont Honeybush Tea complies with the requirements of Standards regarding Food Hygiene and Food Safety of regulated Agricultural Food products of plant origin destined for Export
Agricultural Products Standard Act, 1990 (Act 119, 1990)
PPECB (Perishable Products Export Control Board)
PPECB, mandated by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, inspects and analyses all export consignments for microbiological contamination, foreign matter, residue and several other criteria to determine whether the product complies with the export standards laid down for the product by South African law to ensure that it is fit for human consumption.
Products approved for export carry the PASSED FOR EXPORT stamp, regarded as a symbol of quality assurance to clients and consumers around the world.
Organic Certification – CERES (Certification of Environmental Standards GmbH)
The total farming operation of MELMONT is annually inspected for careful harvesting and processing practices. The Honeybush resources in the mountains, the area harvested, the conservation measures, the yield, the final product, as well as the requisitions and sales are all monitored.
