The short version: Boxer delivers strong FY numbers thanks to business resilience and strong value-led offering

Boxer’s maiden full-year results since listing came out this week, and an impressive bunch of numbers they are:

• Turnover growth of +12.3% to R46.7bn was boosted by good volume growth in like stores (i.e. excluding new stores opened in the period), a particularly impressive result considering deflation of 1.2% in its internal selling price
• Gross profit was up +11.3%, thanks to Boxer’s ability to leverage scale and achieve margin efficiencies, allowing it to absorb price increases 
• Store footprint grew by 51 stores (or in other words, just under one new store per week). This growth, together with the opening of its new Tongaat DC, created 3,400 jobs, taking Boxer’s total employee count to around 35,000
• The only black mark, if we can call it that, was a 15% drop in headline earnings per share, although this was purely as a result of the 157 million shares being issued during its public listing, an indicator that will look a whole lot better next year when the IPO distortions will no longer play a role

The short version: Woolworths refutes claims that it is solely responsible for supplier’s bankruptcy | Trade union backlash over PnP labour changes

We return to the Woolies-Beyers situationship – to refresh your memory, read our previous story here – where this week CEO Roy Bagattini has refuted claims that the posh retailer is the main reason for Beyers’ downfall. Bagattini explained that tensions emerged between the two companies in 2023 when “Our team found out that [Beyers] was supplying our direct competitors with products using and leveraging our Intellectual Property… The fact that [Beyer’s founder and CEO] may have wanted to supply other retailers—no issue with that whatsoever—but don’t supply them with product that we’ve invested in creating and developing and give away our IP,” said Bagattini. After two years of trying to smooth things over to no avail, Woolies made the call to end its agreement with Beyers, effectively taking away 50% of Beyer’s business. Who is right and who is wrong here? It depends on which party you side with.

Over at Pick n Pay, trade unions Cosatu and its affiliate Saccawu are not in the least bit happy with how the retailer is handling the section 189 process we reported on last week. When it comes to labour overhauls of this nature – which in this case would affect 22,000 store workers – employers are required by law to formally engage with unions before approaching staff. According to the trade unions in question, this was not done and in addition, they aver, going to the media with it before consultations took place was particularly bad form. “We will oppose any attempt to unfairly and/or unlawful[ly] downward vary or retrench workers and will mobilize all organizational and legal mechanisms to protect our members and all affected employees,” says Saccawu. “If further provoked, we are organizationally ready to mobilize and campaign to rally our members and communities to unleash industrial and mass action in defence of our members.”

The short version: Plant-based alternatives cheaper than meat | 1,000 Walmart jobs on the line | Aldi’s ‘best’ is not good enough

While the price of beef goes up in South Africa due to foot-and-mouth disease, over in the UK, it’s factors like the Middle East crisis affecting the transport of fertilisers and fuel, as well as last year’s poor grass growth that are making beef products less affordable these days. In fact, research by the Good Food Institute Europe has revealed that Tesco’s plant-based products are selling at significantly lower prices than the real McCoy, which is interesting. But reading through our source, we found the real story hidden between the lines, so pay attention. We quote: “plant-based beef, pork, and lamb mince products all cost at least 29% less.” Fascinating, isn’t it? How beef, pork and lamb products could even be plant-based? Indeed, we live in a bold new world where a lentil can suddenly be turned into a rack of lamb thanks to some misplaced wording.

Over in the US, not even a retail giant like Walmart is immune to job cuts, with the retailer announcing that it is eliminating or relocating 1,000 corporate roles in an attempt to streamline operations. “Ultimately, we’re designing a team that’s set up to move faster, scale what works and deliver better experiences for customers and members everywhere,” said the execs in charge in a company memo, a trend that will become more and more commonplace in businesses now and into the future.

And in a rather disconcerting story, Europe’s top court, the European Court of Justice, has found that it is not enough for a supermarket chain to try to keep pests out of its stores if, despite those measures, pests still manage to get in. The case follows repeated inspections in Aldi stores in Belgium from 2020 to 2022 that uncovered rodent droppings and chewed food across several stores and a warehouse. While Aldi argued that EU law only requires a ‘best effort’ at hygiene, the court clarified that the law demands actual results and consumer safety. In other words, your hygiene paperwork is not good enough if rats manage to use it to make their nests. *shudders*