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What are our retailers up to, you ask, in these difficult times for consumers across the economic spectrum? Here are a couple of approaches. Meat inflation is +11.4%, the highest it has been for five years, so Makro is offering various deals on the popular protein to help people over the hump. It has recently introduced flavoured mince at R40/kg with similar deep cuts on cows’ heels and chicken feet, and various other discounts. “Customers want to purchase in bulk to help soften inflation linked increases to food products overall and we are expecting that trend to continue especially in the meat category,” explains Ops Director Craig Stewart. Shoprite, in the meantime, en route to becoming the actual government, is rather cheekily offering something it’s calling the Basic Food Subsidy, with deep discounts on a basket of branded basics – including pilchards, baked beans, rice and oil – for members of the Xtra Savings programme.

Comment: Meeting South Africans where they are: meat-loving discount seekers.

We mentioned it briefly a couple weeks back, but happy 30th B-day once again to Food Lover’s Market, which launched its first Fruit & Veg City store at Access Park in Cape Town back when we had long hair and a goatee. Today the business has over 100 stores on our subcontinent, 17,000 staff, and the less said about our current hairline status, the better. Among its influences the business cites Waitrose and Selfridges in the UK and Wegmans, Stew Leonard’s, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods in the US. It’s currently rolling out between five and eight stores annually, split 50/50 between new stores and rebuilds, across a comprehensive stable of brands, namely Food Lover's Market, c-store FreshStop, import/export outfit FVC International, Diamond Discount Liquor and Market Liquors, and Seattle Coffee Company. “As a brand, we decided a while ago that it was never going to be about the number of stores we could open, but it was always going to be about being the best store in the community, wherever we opened a store,” says a visibly chuffed Brian Coppin, founder with his brother Mike, and current CEO. “That philosophy continues today.”

Comment: Homegrown, from scratch. That takes some doing, believe us.

Just 64% of households in South Africa have safe, reliable access to water. By expanding its support of PlayPumps to 50 sites across rural South African communities, Shoprite is hoping to increase that number, bringing borehole water to 18,000 plus people. PlayPumps, you will recall, are those merry-go-round powered water pumps that have the added benefit of keeping the littluns occupied. Shoprite is also reducing water use in its operations, with a -7.5% reduction in water consumption intensity this year and -6.1% last year. To Massmart, where the wage negotiations with Saccawu that have been dragging on for a year have ended in a 10-day strike at Makro stores. Massmart have staffed up to ensure that the action does not impede operations. Moving on, the Small Enterprises Finance Agency (Sefa) is offering the owners of spaza shops, general dealers or grocery stores access to up to R15,000 in working capital through a Spaza-Shop Support Programme, in the form of an initial R10,000 grant and an additional R5,000 revolving loan. Finally, Woolies has announced the resignation of Reeza Isaacs as Group Finance Director, effective end-June.

Comment: The liquidity of small and informal businesses has long been a drag on our economy. Good initiative from Sefa.

According to shelf-edge automation and comms outfit Pricer, 39% of UK retailers surveyed say they are facing more pressure on the store to fulfil e-commerce orders, while 23% of their staff complain of additional tasks under the new regime. 21% of shoppers felt they received lower levels of customer service in-store because staff were stretched dealing with online orders and collections, and another 21% also said they had faced delays at the checkout. 31% complained that aisles were cluttered with trollies fulfilling online orders. Another, not unrelated, survey by Incisiv reveals that 74% of grocers believe that digital shopping has made shoppers less loyal, and 76% of them believe that a poor web and mobile experience reduces shopper loyalty. “Grocers must recognise that poor digital experiences can lead to lost loyalty, and thus prioritize building a digital-focused loyalty program that enhances the omnichannel shopper journey," says Gaurav Pant, Chief Insights Officer and VP of Missing Vowels at Incisiv.

Comment: We wanted a little ‘disruption’ to spur things along, and boy did we get it. Now as an industry we have to learn to live with it as we navigate our omnichannel journeys.

In post-Brexit Britannia, a country founded on a crashingly bad idea, new product development (NPD) has apparently slowed among manufacturers who are cutting back and sticking to what they know in the face of a tough economy. In South Africa, a country founded on a wing and a prayer, our response to most crises is to try something new. Take Tiger Brands, for example, which has just launched something it’s calling a ‘Sensorium’ – a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose centre dedicated to nurturing a culture of innovation in the business. The facility is just one leg of a strategy aimed at keeping the business relevant in tough times. NPD at Tiger is focused on three growth platforms: Economic Food Options, Health and Nutrition, and Snackification. “We’ve made good strides in responding to changing consumer needs through innovation. In 2022, Tiger Brands completed 21 innovation projects across all three consumer growth platforms, achieving a R1.1bn (4.2%) innovation rate” says Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Zayd Abrahams.

Comment: Innovation can be a relatively low-cost investment, even in tough times, and one that sets the stage for future growth.

First up, some interims from RFG Holdings, maker of Rhodes and Bull Brand canned products, which has reported an -11% decline in volumes for the 21 weeks through February. While it grew revenue +7.4%, this was mainly by saddling shoppers with a +14.7% price increase across the portfolio. This misfortune it attributes to a “deteriorating domestic consumer environment and competitor activity”, although it did mention that it is doing quite well in the pie category. Sticking with the R’s, RCL FOODS is involved in something of a how’s your father with activist shareholder Albie Cilliers, who RCL believes profited uniquely and unfairly from a repurchase of shares related to the unwinding of the company's eight-year-old BEE scheme – although it stopped short of accusing him of doing anything unlawful. Finally, congrats to Premier, listed at last, with other businesses, including Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, likely to follow suit soon.

Comment: The arrival of Coke on the JSE would be a welcome development for shareholders. Warren Buffet famously did very well off the share in the US.

Inflation for the month of February, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was +7.0% YoY, with food and non-alcoholic beverages – i.e. our own great sector – the main contributor at +13.6%, or 2.3 points of the total. Housing and utilities increased by a surprisingly modest +4.0%, while transport was up +9.9% YoY, contributing 1.4 percentage points to the total. In news not unrelated, in its Essential Food Price Monitoring (EFPRM) Report, the Competition Commission has announced that it has launched an enquiry into the retail pricing of staples such as cooking oil and bread. Retailers, argue the Commission, typically increase their prices by a percentage margin relative to inflation. In times of low inflation, no problem – the increase at retail is probably reflective of the actual increase at wholesale or from the manufacturer. In times of high inflation, not so much, and the retailer is earning far more off the increase.

Comment: Similar, you will recall to the brouhaha over ginger and garlic – also launched in the EFPRM Report a couple of years back. Now, we’re talking about actual staples. Watch this space.