Sunbird Rooibos: Where We Are Right Now

I don’t write these as often as I should. Far too infrequently do I write a post for this page. But, apart from allowing us to communicate with our customers and fans about what’s going on with us, it’s a good opportunity to pause and reflect. Like a good cup of tea opens up that moment to push pause on life.

So, I’m taking the opportunity to sip a cup of Rooibos and reflect on where we’ve come from, and where we might be going…

It’s been a long and difficult two years and more. Everyone has faced challenges and heartache in one way or another. Yet, we persevered, reminded ourselves that it’s always darkest before dawn. The sun always rises.

We finally feel like the hard part is behind us and the rewards for being patient and using the time to reset and re-establish a foundation are being realised. Rays of light are peeking over the horizon now, and we’re excited for the future.

We’ve recently been listed with Pick n Pay, and Spar is soon to follow suit. Internationally, the clients we’d hope to meet in 2020 are now engaging with us. These current and future prospects will take our business to the next level – one we’ve dreamed of achieving since the beginning.

As always, these new opportunities bring forward their own challenges. But, we will enjoy rising to them and learning from them – hopefully not the hard way.

As we’ve been reminded of so often over these last few years, there are few constants in life. Can you ever sip the same tea twice? We’ve recently had to say goodbye to one constant that’s been there since the beginning. My wife, Laura, joined us almost at inception in what was supposed to be a temporary role.

Six years later, that temporality finally came. It’s been a wonderful time, certainly not without its ups and downs. Many of our friends have remarked how they would have found it impossible to work with their spouse. Although we had our fair share of ‘spirited’ discussions, it’s been an incredible experience building a business and a brand with her.

Laura is taking her considerable talents back to her preferred field of biodiversity conservation, and so even though Sunbird has lost one of the flock, the health of the planet is in better hands now. The office will miss her presence, but I still get to enjoy her company out of work.

We’re also pleased to make our first full-time appointment since before the pandemic. Nadja Meyer, who joined us part-time in February, was taken on full-time in July. She’s a recent food science graduate, and many of you would have already been dealing with her. Her energy and efficiency has been a significant contribution to enabling some of our bigger and more exciting projects.

As someone who sees how natural principles are applicable to all aspects of life, I’ve always looked at the cycle of things. Time flows in waves, and there are always ups and downs; some gentle, some severe. Yet, still this flux, being the natural way, is actually the happy medium. The lows focus our minds and make us appreciate the highs. The highs themselves, are obviously their own joy.

While we can’t be certain that the future is golden, we still bound towards it with anticipation and trust that you will continue on this strange and amazing journey with us.