Lubanzi
Lubanzi was started in 2014, as nothing more than two friends searching for an opportunity to make a difference in the world.
In 2014, while living in South Africa as exchange students, we set off on a 20 hour bus ride along South Africa's southern coast en route to the wild coast, a remote part of the country - famously the birthplace of Nelson Mandela - for a week long backpacking expedition. On our second day, a wandering dog the locals called ‘LUBANZI' began following us on our adventure. He stuck with us throughout our journey - for 6 days & 100 miles - until he disappeared in the middle of the night before our final morning. There's some poetic justice in that.
In the spirit of this adventure, we moved to South Africa in 2016 endeavoring to launch a business that could help share the magnetism of a country and a people that had planted such deep roots in us, and deliver some seriously top notch wines in the process. Together, we spent months in South Africa sourcing and developing our wines; We ran the gamut looking for friends and partners who believed in the vision and wanted to be part of what we were trying to build : a young, innovative, forward-thinking and socially responsible wine company built on the concepts of collaboration & exploration, with a ‘locally run, globally minded' mantra. We found those partners in our winemakers, our farms, our cellars, our designers and every other person, business and friend that has become an important & meaningful part of Lubanzi.
We felt it necessary the business be an avenue to deliver real and meaningful social impact back to a country so deserving of that commitment. As things kicked off, we became enamored with the idea of a more complete and equitable supply chain, which is why we partnered with The Pebbles Project, a not for profit that provides health & education resources directly back to the families who live and work on South Africa's wine farms. As we grew, we found more ways to deliver on our promise to be social & environmentally responsible - becoming a certified B Corp, shifting all of our farming to fair trade & sustainable, becoming carbon neutral, donating 1% of our sales back to local environmental non-profits, and so much more.
Lubanzi is the story of these partnerships, of our travels, and of this wandering dog in the middle of nowhere, who by some stroke of luck, brought it all to life. To whoever finds a bottle, or can, of Lubanzi - we hope our wine helps you make a home in the newest places, & an adventure out of the home you know by heart.
Philosophy
Our wines hail from South Africa's rugged and iconic Swartland, the low-lying, coastal, hub of SA's offbeat and progressive wine industry. There we focus on making fairly produced wines that not only punch above their weight, but also reflect the pieces of land from which they come. We're about minimal intervention, natural fermentation, and no colors, concentrates, powders, tricks or gimmicks in the cellar.
We believe that people are every bit as important as the product. In that spirit, we're proud to be Fair Trade & B Corp Certified, ensuring that human rights are safeguarded at every stage of production, workers enjoy good and fair working conditions and farmers receive a fair share.
We believe in the responsibility of those in agriculture to be stewards of the Earth, and we take steps to ensure environmental sustainability throughout our supply chain. From only working with farms that are Integrity & Sustainability Certified©, to labeling all of our bottles with 100% TreeFree© labels, to being a certified 1% For The Planet business to offsetting our carbon emissions via Climate Neutral, we're focused on doing what we can to minimize our impact on the planet.
Most importantly though, we believe in the balancing of purpose and profit, and in the importance of using business as a force for social good. Lubanzi is built as a social enterprise, and we've pledged 50% of our net profits to back the Pebbles Project, an NGO that works with the low-income families who live and work on South Africa's wine farms, growing families by providing resources and improving access to high-quality health care & education.
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