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It is the ambition of the Gauteng Government to “convert townships from being places of consumption to becoming centres of production.” One of the instruments of this historic programme is, as you know, our very own Massmart, which will be providing 60% of stock to spazas in a pilot six townships. These spazas, in addition to going about the business of bringing groceries to where they’re needed, will be providing the necessary supplies for the feeding schemes of a total of 2,000 schools in the province. The challenge is of course keeping track of these retailers, and ensuring that only legal traders are benefiting from the largesse, something which the sometimes controversial Operational Fiela has been targeting. 

Comment: Alexandra Township, a centre of resistance to apartheid, is the beneficiary of this project under which many of these retailers fall. It couldn’t happen to a nicer place.

According to an independent research study conducted by Wits University, the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Campaign against Woolworths has cost The Dapper One some R7.8million over the past year. According to Woolies it has not, and growth has continued unimpeded. While last year’s renewed conflict in Gaza, which sparked the boycott, has made its inevitable way off the news cycle, recent controversies like the signing of Pharrell Williams as a spokes-icon for the brand have given the BDS cause further legs. The research itself was based on surveys conducted on the BDS website of 3,296 boycotters. 

Comment: It has to be at least possible that some of the boycotters questioned exaggerated just a teeny bit the amount they would have spent at Woolies had they not been boycotting…

It’s not often one reads lines like “an orgy of regulatory excess” in the business pages. But such indeed are the sentiments of blogger The Contrarian Capitalist, who graces the bandwidth of The Times of India in his treatise on the injustice visited upon Nestlé in the magnificently-named province of Uttar Pradash, where an over-zealous food safety inspector pronounced their Maggi line unsafe for consumption. And then “an orgy of regulatory excess” led by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) followed. It’s now common cause that Maggi is fine to eat, and the contention of The Capitalist that Nestlé has suffered in various ways – direct business loss, brand value loss, stock price loss and the cost of relaunching – and should be compensated accordingly. 

Comment: Bold stuff there, that blogger, running counter to the prevailing narrative of wicked multinational vs poor subcontinent.

And what’s this? Word from an old, old friend after these how many years! Logistics giant Super Group, having gone quiet on us for a bit, is back with a bang, acquiring a 75% stake in German logistics outfit IN tIME Holding. IN tIME is a specialty shop which has made a career out of time-critical deliveries in sectors as diverse as the automotive, pharmaceutical and hazardous goods industries. The acquisition, according to Super Group CEO Peter Mountford (he was with MI5 during the war, y’know), is a good fit for Super Group, which has extensive supply chain experience in such niches as the automotive and industrial parts sectors. 

Comment: Exciting stuff, although sadly in step with the growing trend of big SA outfits squirreling their wedge away in promising offshore businesses.

Beiersdorf has won a significant battle in a German court, which held that the lawsuit should be reopened between that Teutonic manufacturer of branded goods and rival Unilever over a particular shade of blue, which Beiersdorf would like exclusive use of for the decoration of its Nivea packaging, but which Unilever would like a dab of for its Dove branding. Beiersdorf had trademarked its traditional blue as a brand colour in 2007, Unilever had successfully sued for cancellation of the trademark, Beiersdorf took the decision on appeal in 2013, and so it goes. There are various suits of this nature out there at the mo, with Nestlé attempting to trademark the distinctive shape of its Kit Kat line, and Cadbury seeking to own the colour purple. 

Comment: While we at Ti are having our own go at a popular hip-hop recording artist of the same name.

Dark days in the life of the rough beast that is the South African economy. Consumer inflation hit 4.6% for the month of May after starting the year at 4.4%. Business confidence fell 6 points to 43 in the second quarter, and consumer confidence plummeted to -15 for the same period. GDP growth chugged along at a dismal 1.3% for the quarter although the consensus among economists is that it’s likely to hit something closer to 1.8% for the year. And don’t get us started on Eskom. On the upside, the trade account showed an unexpected and welcome surplus in May, with exports outstripping imports to the tune of R5bn after April’s R1.4bn deficit. 

Comment: It is true, we suppose, that growth of any sort is better than none at all.

We’re pretty sure that this story isn’t a hoax, but who knows? It would appear that in the town of Redding, California, residents will be receiving their oxygen courtesy of Nestlé, which has installed a giant air scrubbing plant in the area and will soon, with the assistance of the municipality, be charging residents 53 US cents a day for the privilege of breathing.