Not quite the Loxodonta Africana David Attenborough would get excited about, although we think he should. Masscash’s Jumbo Cash and Carry brand will soon be known as Jumbo Wholesale, a name reflective of the scale and evolving market significance of the business. Last week we learned of the transformation of what we currently know as Masscash Wholesale.  And let’s be clear: “This journey is not just about changing the signage on our stores, but the shift is also about transforming the business from the inside out,” says Phumzile Siboza, Masscash’s Marketing Exec. Exciting stuff that will bring all Masscash Wholesale stores under a single brand – and that’s just in terms of shopper facing identity – it is the significance of the move for Masscash Wholesale and the route-to-market that we are excited about.  And in other Jumbo news, Jumbo Crown Mines, which burned down in Feb last year, was reopened recently, serving 14,000 customers in its first week in a premises that is more than double in size what it was before.

Comment: We will unfold this story in more detail next week. In the meantime, if you would like a succinct briefing session for your team regarding Masscash Wholesale, and what’s in store, email Talisha, on talishaw@tradeintelligence.co.za

That sly old fox Whitey Basson has cashed in his Shoprite chips (well, 8.7millon of them, anyway, of a possible 9.1million) to the tune of – wait for it – R1.8bn. R60m of which he snaffled by allegedly doing some fancy footwork on the timing of the sale. And leaving Shoprite shareholders with interest on the purchase to the tune of R144m. Shoprite is obliged to buy Whitey’s shares back in terms of a clause inserted surreptitiously into his employment contract. There’s the whiff of conflict of interest about the transaction, as Whitey is an executive of the business, and also the suggestion that said executive believes Shoprite’s growth may be slowing. Although, to be fair, just a week ago Whitey was sanguine about the businesses prospects, in Africa and even beyond. 

Comment: Is this the kind of move which suggests an amicable separation? Do Whitey and Oom Christo still share a bottle of Klein DasBosch Director’s Reserve in the Lapa on a Sunday afternoon these days?

Citing the “long tail” of online competitors as an area where the business needs to play catch up, Walmart’s CEO of the US e-commerce business has admitted that The Big Feller is still somewhat on the back foot in this burgeoning space. Jargon enough? The long tail, basically, is the ability of seasoned online players to offer an endless array of often trivial items (like those little rubber thingy’s that prevent the end of your watch strap from flapping around, to pick a random item from our own shopping cart) for purchase. Walmart’s current strategy is to offer punters discounts on one million items if they’ll come and pick them up in store, which is kind of exactly the opposite of what online retail actually is. 

Comment: Like all other big-box retailers – a rash of which have recently closed in the US – Walmart has to get big into online, which grew a whopping 29% over the Christmas quarter.

A business which does not grace these pages often enough, Food Lover’s Market is intent on doing the right thing by the poorest among us this month. In partnership with supplier Tru-Fruit and FoodForward SA, Food Lover’s will be marking World Hunger Day by feeding one hungry person for every bag of Tru-Fruit apples it sells during the month of May. An estimated 14million South Africans go hungry every day, and up to 50% of our families – 50% – are food insecure. FoodForward SA works with retailers, suppliers and a network of 600 NGOs to rescue unsold food and get it to over 250,000 hungry South Africans every day. This collaboration will make that job a little easier. In addition, each Food Lover’s Market store has partnered with local charities mostly aimed at feeding children, and the business has contributed towards 1.5million meals in the last year. 

Comment: An excellent initiative by an innovative South African business.

A mixed bag of cereal (and indeed metaphors) from Pioneer Foods this week, which warns investors 1) of a 49% decline in headline earnings as operating profit sinks some 40-45% YOY, and b) of the fact that it remains in talks despite last week’s suggestion to the contrary, about a transaction which may materially affect the value of the share. It remains mum, if that’s the word, on just what this transaction might be, but word on the street is that it may be buying something in Poland, and that something is likely to be some sort of a cereal or related business rather than a crate of vodka or some 13th century icons. 

Comment: Although for all Pioneer are telling us, it could be all three. Whatever it is, they say, it’ll strengthen their core business, which (see 1., above) is probably a good thing right now.

Even as it fights off a hostile takeover bid from Country Bird (a fight which has cost northward of R30m to date) Sovereign Foods has also seen revenues decline in the face of cheap and indeed nasty chicken imports from third world hellholes like Brazil and United States of America. All of this by way of warning that it’s expecting a loss of 42-54c per share in HEPS when it reports its results next week. A 21% increase in imports (particularly of bone-in bits which increased by 24%) compared to the last FY has hit its revenues hard. Country Bird, engaging in what is known these days as “concern trolling” have pointed out that the takeover fight with Sovereign has put that business in an invidious position, and wouldn’t it rather just come quietly?

Comment: South Africa produces a lot of chicken; South Africans eat a lot of chicken. Surely there is a way that the government can make it possible for South African businesses to cash in on what should be an agreeable situation.

So how are we doing? It’s patchy, at best. Post the reshuffle and the downgrades, business confidence is down, hovering around 40 on the index with local investors lacking the appetite to fork out their moolah and kick start the growth we so badly need. Similarly, SA’s households are showing signs of being less inclined to borrow to fuel their spending: wise perhaps as household debt breaches the R1.5trillion mark, but again, not what the doctor ordered for continued economic growth. And if Moody’s decide in the next few weeks to downgrade our Sovereign credit rating to junk, the rand is likely to go for a loop. On the upside, the Reserve Bank’s leading indicator – a kind of basket of indicators drawn from a wide range of metrics – has been trending positive for seven straight quarters. All of this points to us avoiding a recession in the short term. And a surge in agricultural production should keep inflation under control and interest rates manageable. 

Comment: So not all gloom and doom then, which is nice.

What do you give the man, or indeed woman, who has everything? Why, an Uber gift card, of course, now obtainable, along with UberEATS vouchers, from Pick n Pay. More evidence, if more were needed, of the ubiquity of the Disruptor™ du jour.