What happens when a dynamic team of maverick entrepreneurs, who have succeeded in the world market, go BOS?
They latch onto a hot trend, and capture the attention of top brand consultants and astute fund managers, keen to back a brand with global potential.
BOS Ice Tea, an organic Rooibos based beverage, is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Grant Rushmere and Richard Bowsher – creative men of vision matched with a business savvy that has seen them each succeed with previous entrepreneurial start-ups.
Combine the two and what do you have? An inspired team, with a powerful drive to succeed, and the ability to tell the difference between a good idea and a great one.
Within a year they successfully launched BOS Ice Tea, and placed it in over 1,200 delis, supermarkets and restaurants, earning product design accolades all the way.
Now, just over a year after launch, they have received major investments from two international players, Invenfin, the venture capital arm of investment company Remgro Limited, and Manchester United Football Club manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Invenfin has made a 20% investment for an undisclosed amount and Manchester United Football Club Manager Sir Alex Ferguson recently confirmed a 10% private investment in the company. “I’m delighted to have discovered such an exciting new brand coming out of South Africa. I was struck by the passion of the BOS team, and by the great story underpinning the brand. I believe BOS has amazing potential to become a premier player in both local and international markets,” says Sir Alex.
So who are the people behind the brand BOSsifying the market, and what is it that investors are buying into?
The BOS team
BOS believes that people make a business and with a team of enterprising dynamos all passionately devoted to the brand, it’s no surprise that BOS has attracted the attention of some serious investors. Co-founders Grant Rushmere and Richard Bowsher are two men who have cut their teeth on bold, energetic entrepreneurial start-ups and in doing so have learnt the art of business sense, as well as how to tell the difference between a good idea and a great one.
Grant Rushmere
After graduating from UCT with a degree in Economics and English literature Grant Rushmere spent the next 10 years living and working in Europe. His passion for design and Africa fully stoked, he returned to Cape Town and soon after founded the Afro Coffee brand which he sold to Red Bull GmbH in 2007. He had learnt much about branding a distinctly South African product, as well as a thing or two about Rooibos. “While developing the Afro brand I worked extensively with Rooibos, blending it with all sorts of different flavours,” Grant explains. “I realised that its natural sweetness makes it the perfect carrier for fruit flavours. With its healthy, healing properties being increasingly recognised locally and internationally, the obvious choice was to start with Rooibos and build the product from there.” So he approached fellow entrepreneur and Rooibos farmer Richard Bowsher with the brand concept and secret recipe, and BOS was born.
Richard Bowsher
Bowsher started to develop his entrepreneurial skills from the tender age of 15 and after graduating from UCT with a B Comm, went on to become co-founder & CEO of international diversified media company, Streaming Media Inc. Headquartered in San Francisco and with offices in London and Hong Kong, Streaming Media Inc. experienced rapid profitability and hyper growth during the 90’s tech boom. Richard sold the business to NYSE listed Penton Media Inc in 2000, thereafter eagerly returning home to South Africa. Soon after his return, Richard co-founded AfrikaBurn, a freedom of expression and creative arts festival held annually in the Tankwa Karoo. Fusing his passion for both the creative and natural, Richard then established the Klipopmekaar Rooibos Tea Farm and Private Nature Reserve in the Cederberg mountains, transforming it into an organic, environmentally conscious farm and the ideal source of Rooibos for BOS Ice Tea. “BOS is adding value to South African resources in South Africa and this is critical to our country’s long term development,” says Bowsher. “Our intellectual property is proudly South African born and we’ve already created many jobs on farms, in offices and factories. In the long term, BOS has the potential to make a significant contribution to unlocking the global potential of our unique resource and heritage, namely Rooibos tea.”
Marié van Niekerk
Marié van Niekerk joined BOS to head up the marketing department from its launch in 2010. She recognised from the word go that this exciting new company had huge potential and wasted no time in investing and joining the board as Marketing Director. “I’m delighted and privileged to have been part of BOS since the beginning,” says van Niekerk. “The company provides a unique platform for self expression and creativity within a business environment. I love the process of creating innovative solutions for each new challenge we face.”
Dave Evans
In January of 2011 BOS was approached by Dave Evans, who had recognised the enormous potential of BOS brands and wanted to invest. He joined the board and has since been made CEO. Despite a glittering future at SAB as District Manager running the Eastern and Southern Cape, Evans chose to listen to the entrepreneur within him and in 2009 left SAB to purchase artisan bakery Vovo Telo, with a vision to create a group of artisan bakeries serving communities countrywide. Vovo Telo experienced explosive growth and media recognition, and then in October 2010 was approached by Famous Brands to form a joint venture partnership to support its growth. It was through Vovo Telo that Dave discovered BOS and recognized its potential: “I first encountered BOS as a customer. I was immediately entranced by its iconic Afro-pop packaging, and cracking open the can I was delighted to discover it was a fantastic tasting product. The more I dug into the BOS story, value-system and wonderful product intrinsics, the more I realised that it had the potential to create an incredible South African success story, and shake up the fairly lackluster beverage space. I have since become an investor in BOS, and have joined with Richard and Grant to build this exciting, iconic, South African brand.”
Joe Kieser
Entrepreneur Joe Kieser is the co-founder and director of Invenfin as well as director of BOS. He started his career with The Coca-Cola group and went on to found brand consultancy Pentagraph in South Africa, which expanded into London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Dubai, Sydney, Jo’burg and Stellenbosch. He has personally consulted for companies such as Vodafone, CitiBank, Richemont, Fiat Group, The Coca-Cola Group and Ferrari GP. When speaking about Invenfin’s relationship with BOS, Kieser said. “Critical for Invenfin in making its investment decision was the strength of the BOS team, which contains experienced entrepreneurs who we believe can achieve BOS’ big plans. The ice tea market globally is huge and growing and we think BOS will travel well.”
The brand
BOS believes that people make a business and with a team of enterprising dynamos all passionately devoted to the brand, it’s no surprise that BOS has attracted the attention of some serious investors since its launch in June 2010. Invenfin, the venture capital arm of investment company Remgro Limited, has made a 20% investment of an undisclosed amount and Manchester United Football Club Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has recently confirmed a 10% private investment in the company. “I’m delighted to have discovered such an exciting new brand coming out of South Africa. I was struck by the passion of the BOS team, and by the great story underpinning the brand. I believe BOS has amazing potential to become a premier player in both local and international markets,” says Sir Alex.
BOS make no bones about being proudly South African and for the team; building awareness around African products is one of their main motivations. Looking back over their first year, BOS has every reason to be excited about what they have achieved and where the brand is headed. . “We will continue to explore and expand our horizons,” says Rushmere. “We now have the team and the support behind us to tackle the future with great enthusiasm.”
/ends
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT BOS:
How did the BOS brand evolve?
Creative entrepreneurs, Grant Rushmere and Richard Bowsher tapped into the zeitgeist for all things African when they developed the new BOS range of ice teas.
Grant, who developed the fabulously modern Afrocoffee brand, researched Rooibos and realised that that the natural sweetness of the tea made it the perfect carrier for fruit flavours, and with its healthy, healing properties being increasingly recognised locally and internationally, the obvious choice was to start with Rooibos and build the product from there. He joined forces with Richard, who was farming premium quality, organic Rooibos in the Cederberg.
Rooibos is truly African, and the BOS brand Grant developed draws on African mythology from the San, Egyptian and West African tribes. Using the symbols of the lion and the star Sirius, the packaging epitomizes a modern take on age-old African culture, which is what BOS is all about.
What’s in a name?
BOS is derived from the classic South African slang term “Bossies”, but fits perfectly with Rooibos, the key ingredient.
Our definition:
BOS/bos/noun, adj & verb. -n. 1. Deliciously refreshing ice tea made entirely in South Africa with enormous integrity and care. 2. A cool tea with a cool taste in a cool can. –adj.1. Possessing out the box originality, unleashed energy, robust health and an exuberant capacity for joy. 2. Wildly inspired. 3. Typically presented in Afro pop packaging. Colloq. Mad, outrageous, Rooibos. –verb intr. go bos. –verb tr. bossificate (as in to Bossify, to be converted to BOS, or to subscribe to the BOS way of life).
BOS uses organic Rooibos tea – where is the product grown and what makes the area and farm special?
BOS Rooibos is farmed on Klipopmekaar Rooibos Tea Farm and Private Nature Reserve, in the heart of the Cederberg Mountains. The farm is owned by BOS director Richard Bowsher, is fully organic and operates at the forefront of environmentally sustainable farming.
Where is BOS manufactured?
The product is manufactured in the Western Cape and is packaged in KwaZulu Natal, making it an authentic local brand.
What are the health benefits of BOS?
BOS is a natural drink – completely preservative-free, caffeine-free, colourant-free and manufactured from organic Rooibos, which is well known for it’s high anti-oxidant levels and healing properties.
How is BOS packaged?
BOS is available in 275ml slim-line cans with the recommended retail price ranging from
R9.90 in retailers, to R15.00 per unit in premium delis, restaurants and bars. The units are sold singly or are shrink-wrapped into packs of four.
What makes the packaging exceptional?
The design is youthful, clean and compelling – reflecting the trend towards simpler, pared down packaging where product integrity is the hero. The packaging is designed around a contemporary African theme. The potent symbols of African mythology, the lion and Sirius – the brightest star in the night sky, are set against a backdrop of bold African colours that reflect the flavours and functions of the range.
What variants is BOS available in?
There are five variants – the Classic BOS range comprises Peach, Lemon and Apple flavours blended with a Rooibos base. Lime ‘n Ginger Dandelion, Ginkgo Biloba, Panax Ginseng, Gotu Kola and Guarana are only a few of the potent, healing ingredients in the BOS functional range which currently comprises BOS Cranberry Energy and BOS Slim Lime & Ginger. All honest, authentic flavours… nothing artificial.
BOS is positioning itself as an “ethical” brand – what environmental sustainability or social investment projects are the brand involved with?
Since it first entered the market, BOS has committed to planting and maintaining one indigenous tree in underprivileged and under greened areas for every 2000 cans sold; and is currently researching ways in which it could become a carbon-neutral business in the future.
Richard Bowsher has located Klipopmekaar Farm at the vanguard of organic Rooibos farming and green agriculture, practising conservation tillage, installing solar power, implementing environmentally conscious design, entrenched recycling systems and initiating on-farm and industry-wide conservation projects.
About Invenfin (Pty) Ltd
Invenfin is a seed and early stage venture capital investment company and as part of the Remgro Limited group, has an established, global business network. Invenfin looks to invest into intellectual property-based businesses which have global potential.
Joe Kieser
Invenfin Director, Entrepreneur in Residence
Joe began his career with The Coca-Cola Company in South Africa and Atlanta. In 1979 he founded Pentagraph in South Africa which grew internationally as KSDP, with offices in London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Dubai, Sydney, Johannesburg and Stellenbosch. In 2001 the group was acquired by WPP Plc., the worldwide media and communications group listed on the LSE, to become the world’s largest brand consultancy, Enterprise IG. Today, known as Brand Union the brand consultancy has 24 offices in 17 countries.
Joe has personally consulted for global companies such as Daimler Chrysler, The Coca-Cola Company, Vodafone, GE, CitiBank, ABN Amro, Richemont, Fiat Group and Ferrari SP. He is recognised as one of the pioneers and global leaders in brand strategy, applied design and product development.
Joe returned from London in 2003, where he had headed up the group as Non-Executive Chairman and immediately got involved in private equity and venture capital. In 2008 Kieser co-founded Invenfin, a member of the Remgro Group of Companies.
About Remgro Limited
Remgro Limited is a South African investment holding company established after the restructuring of the former Rembrandt Group Limited that was incorporated in 1948 by Dr Anton Rupert. 2008 was a watershed year with the successful unbundling of the Group’s tobacco interests to shareholders. During November 2009 the acquisition of VenFin Limited was successfully completed and the Group’s interests now consist mainly of investments in banking and financial services, printing and packaging, glass products, medical services, mining, petroleum products, food, wine and spirits, media, technology and various other trade mark products.
Issued on behalf of BOS, by Catalyst Communications:
Contact: Sue Parker Smith
Email: sue@catalystcommunications.co.za
Tel: 021 4040608 / 082 551 1101
For more information please visit www.bosicetea.com or contact:
Marié van Niekerk – Marketing BOS
Email: marie@bosbrands.com
Tel: 021 465 9989
