The country’s sole manufacturer of tea, Real Tea, has re-branded its packaging to enhance its competitiveness as the company gets ready for the export market.
Previously the product package was green in colour and is now bright and red, a move made to differentiate it from other green or herbal teas.
Real Tea was first licensed to package tea locally in 2018 and to date, the employment level has increased from 14 to 39 while the investment level has risen from P3.2 million to P4 million. Trading as Motherwell Investments, the 100% citizen-owned company, Real Tea was financed by the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and is housed by Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) at the Block 3 Industrial factory shells in Gaborone.
When officially launching the rebrand this week, the company’s managing director, Gibson Ntibi explained that the brand repackaging was inspired by feedback received from customers.
“Our product re-branding doesn’t mean coming up with a new logo only. It is specifically meant to change the public perception about our product and organisation,” he said.
He expressed gratitude to consumers whom he said had warmed up to the brand as Real Tea continues receiving satisfactory feedback.
Touching on the challenges, Ntibi said just like most businesses Real Tea has struggled with understanding and managing its cash flows, working capital and marketing of products. He also noted that penetrating local retailers, wholesalers or securing fair shelf space in some stores was a nightmare.
“The product is either placed at the top of the shelves where it’s not easily accessible to customers or at the bottom, where customers hardly ever notice the product,” he bemoaned.
To date, Real Tea has been listed in over 183 shops across the country. The retailers include Choppies, Sefalana, Shoprite, Trans, Trident/Eureka, World Group (Trade World) and Square Mart.
Ntibi appealed to the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry to assist the company to penetrate government institutions for business support.
