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A check-in on Food Lover’s Market for the first three months of the year. Not a trading update, mind, because it hasn’t listed, and doesn’t plan to, and is still owned by the founding Coppin family. First quarter sales were up +24% as, despite its small size, it continues to compete on price with the big players, assisted by the vertical integration of its supply system in key segments such as fruit, nuts, vegetables and meat. For example, Food Lover’s imports nuts which it roasts and packages, saving on the middleman. And it runs its own two central meat facilities, helping it keep prices down in the butchery. This enables it to keep fruit and vegetable prices 10% to 20% lower than some competitors, and meat around 5% and 12% cheaper. It’s become a weekly destination for the middle-income punter, with about 50% of sales in meat, vegetables and fruit, and 50% in dry groceries. And while the business is getting clobbered by diesel costs like everyone else, it still has plans to grow, with another 25 stores on the cards by the end of March ’24.

Comment: A business with legs. The canny supplier might want to look for ways to partner and grow with Food Lover’s.

Targeting the shopper of the future this week is Pick n Pay, on the news that it has the exclusive rights to sell Robux in any quantity you like, from R35 up to R3,000. Robux, as you know, are a digital currency used to buy upgrades, outfits, building materials, virtual pets and knick-knacks on the Roblox gaming platform, and if you’re a middle-class parent with kids of a certain age you will no doubt have been nagged for them from time to time. Previously, they were available only in set dollar amounts from Amazon and Apple. “If your tween or teenager is after a Tasmanian Tiger for Adopt Me or a Yuzi Kit for Bed Wars, you can tailor-make the required amount,” says Pick n Pay marketing head Andrew Mills. “This not only provides a safer alternative to purchasing vouchers online with a credit card; it makes an ideal gifting option and is great for budgeting, too.” And to kick off the madness, Pick n Pay is giving away 100 million Robux to lucky Smart Shopper members. In other PnP news, with the departure of Hellmann’s mayo from the Unilever South African portfolio, the retailer will be importing the creamy condiment to the delight of its South African fans.

Comment: It’s all about footfall, both present and future. Two smart moves by Pick n Pay.

A brand-new Checkers Fresh X just landed in the Design Quarter in Sandton, offering the usual fancy stuff we’ve come to expect from this more upmarket format, such as top-quality food, exclusive brands like Forage and Feast and Simple Truth, and specialist in-store services including a Meat Market with free range chicken and restaurant-quality steak; a Kauai; a wine section; and a Krispy Kreme. The new store is next door to a Petshop Science, Checkers’ standalone pet supply outfit. What’s more, the Fresh X has created an impressive 93 new jobs. To Clicks now, which has deployed something called a security patch after a limited data breach. “The isolated incident related to about 0.05% of our pharmacy customers,” said the business. “The data accessed included customers’ names, ID numbers, contact details and selected dispensary details relating to transactions in May at a small number of Clicks pharmacies.” Customers are being advised to be aware of any dodgy transactions or unsolicited calls which may result from the incident.

Comment: Exemplary stuff by Clicks – react fast, tell your customers immediately, and give them some solid advice about how to deal with the fallout.

In the US, the launch of a new snacking range by tiki-themed grocery retailer Trader Joe’s is akin to a sneaker drop by Nike. If you’re big into snacking that is. The big news right now is that the business is bringing back eight popular but discontinued products, and we’ll name them here, with some explainers where needed: Tangerine Cream Bars (ice cream); Ube Mochi (ice cream made of yams); Organic Sugar Cones; Strawberry Lemonade Joe-Joes (Oreos on vacation); Strawberry and Jalapeno Crisps; Organic Midnight Moo Chocolate Syrup; Crunchy Jalapeno Lime and Onion (a topping or condiment); and the Mango Tangerine Scented Candle. More about Trader Joe’s: the stores offer fun, value and an almost exclusively own-branded range of quality fresh and packaged foods; the staff are well paid, and super-friendly; and the tiki-theme is aggressively pursued in every corner of the store.

Comment: Why are we telling you this? Because we’ve long believed that there’s a niche in the South African market for a mid-range retailer that offers both modern African-themed fun and quality merchandise at a good price. It would absolutely rock, and shoppers would love it. Use it, don’t use it.

Unilever gets a new chief next week in the form of Hein Schumacher, who takes on a business that is struggling to achieve the sales growth it should, possessed as it is of a stable of formidable brands and a solid position in many of the world’s major emerging markets, where it generates about 60% of its revenue. Under predecessor Alan Jope, the business was restructured into five business units: beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, nutrition and ice cream, replacing the mishmash of categories and geographies by which it had previously been arranged. The trick now is to make this presumably more efficient animal run. Jope also sold off the tea business; his predecessor Paul Polman got rid of margarine. But there’s room for more cuts, say some experts – including Timotei and Q-Tips, which were put into their own little division some time ago for a sale that didn’t go through. And some analysts are even looking askance at brands like Signal toothpaste and Domestos. Any proceeds, they say, should go to beefing up the brands like Axe, Dove, Hellmann’s and Lux, which measure sales in the billions.

Comment: Interesting times ahead for this groundbreaking business.

First up, congrats to Colgate-Palmolive SA which has won its Constitutional Court battle to prevent Bliss Brands from bringing to market in its existing packaging Securex soap, which flies too close to Protex branding for Colgate’s liking. Next, FUTURELIFE (all caps), the cereal which is akin to a religion for some of its fans, has launched its first standalone store in Umhlanga’s upscale Ocean’s Mall. The store will stock the growing range of FUTURELIFE cereals and snacks, as well as a co-branded range of Adidas workout and street gear, with an interactive kids’ area and a staff complement that includes nutrition and exercise experts. Vertical integration and brand positioning at its finest. Nice one. Finally, to France, where the authorities have asked Kellogg, Danone, and Unilever – among a total of 75 consumer goods businesses – to please reduce their prices. Finance minister Bruno Le Maire asserts that he has secured agreement on price drops for hundreds of products already, as retail prices in supermarkets hit record highs at a time when input prices have been declining after the initial spike in energy and commodity prices caused by the Ukraine war. Most of the manufacturers in question have been quite tight-lipped on the negotiations and inclined to cast blame on the retailers.

Comment: In these volatile times, there is a temptation to up prices against the next upheaval.

South Africa is a nation that likes its liquor. Whether it’s a case of beers by the shisa nyama, a Klippies en Cola for the game, or a glass of rosé at book club, alcohol is a major part of our culture. But how are South Africans managing to indulge in their favourite drinks in this tough economic climate? Where are they shopping and what are they prepared to give up in the search for value? “Value has long been a core consumer driver,” says Caroline Short, Research and Advisory Services Lead at Trade Intelligence. “But in this market, value is seen by shoppers – even in the liquor category – as a necessity, driven by acute economic pressure.” She explains that as with groceries, the hunt for value is a key driver of liquor shopping decisions, including choice of channel, store, liquor category and brand. All of this, and more in the 2023 Liquor Retailing in South Africa report, which provides a comprehensive overview of liquor retailing here at home, starting from an outline of the economic context the industry currently trades in, to shoppers’ needs and behaviours and how liquor retailers (corporate, independent and informal) are responding.

Comment: For more on the shopper drive to value and other trends shaping liquor retailing, click here.

A bit of good news for the beleaguered South African punter: inflation just hit a 13-month low for the month of May, coming in at 6.3%, down from 6.8% in April, and that much closer to the upper limit of the Reserve Bank’s 3-6% targeted range. The problem, say some economists, is that core inflation – the measure which excludes food, non-alcoholic beverages, fuel and energy – remains stubbornly high, easing only to 5.2% in May, after a six-year high of 5.3% in April. And the same beard-tugging necromancers (wizards) of numismatology (coins) are concerned that rather than going easy on us, the dear old Reserve Bank is likely to play it safe and hit us with another 25 basis points hike in July.

Comment: Tough, but not as bad as it could be. The management of the Reserve Bank has been one of several bright spots in our macroeconomic landscape.