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In a time of lowered economic expectations and a stressed shopper base, the Shoprite Group are seeing growth in the affluent end of the market, and planning accordingly. They’ve introduced a range of ready-to-eat goodies like gourmet lamb shanks and teriyaki-and-ginger-basted pork ribs you would normally expect to see on the shelves of a top-end retailer we won’t mention but it starts with “W” and ends with “orths”, and hopes to have 500 of these products on the shelves by the end of the year. The Big Red One is also planning to open 23 new Checkers this year, for a total of 230.

Comment: Shrewd move? Time will tell, although so far no one’s got rich betting against Shoprite.

Nice work, those Men in Black: Massmart’s now well-established supplier development programme has helped 32 emerging suppliers to gain access to a competitive market, generating an estimated R290million in sales for these businesses. And we’re not talking misshapen carrots here, either: Massmart buys everything from cooler boxes to window frames, paints, bathtubs, adhesive and furniture from suppliers identified by the Economic Development Department under an initiative pioneered by Ebrahim Patel.

Comment: If you happen to have carelessly misplaced your cooler box, head down to Makro, where you’ll pick one up at a good price while doing a solid for the smaller guy at the same time.

Analysts are concerned that Woolies may be over-investing in improving the fortunes its appallingly-named Aussie business Davo Something, Dave Wilson, Davey Jones, something like that, and in trying to match cheaper competitors on price here in the Beloved Country. There’s also some concern among our sharper-suited colleagues that The Dapper One has underestimated the impact that outfits like Zara and H&M will have in the market. Rather than meeting them on their favoured battleground of fast fashion, Woolies are attempting to undercut them through discounting. And then, as reported earlier, there’s the assault on Woolies’ posher punters by the likes of Checkers, with its gourmet pret-a-manger offering. 

Comment: All of which adds up to hard times in the marbled halls of SA’s classiest retailer.

Rooibos Limited, purveyor of 70% of the global twiggy tea market, has been found guilty by the Competition Commission of abusing its position of market dominance and faces an administrative penalty. This follows a complaint by Khoisan Tea in 2015 that Rooibos Limited, established as a monopoly under apartheid but newly privatised, entered into long-term agreements with farmers requiring them to commit to four-year supply contracts, rather than allowing them to sell their produce to the highest (or smallest) bidder. Farmers were required to supply Rooibos Limited with up to half of their production if they wanted access to its research facilities, which became critical after the collapse of the SA Research Agricultural Council’s research function. 

Comment: Who knew, eh, that the rooibos market could be so murky?

So Busisiwe Mkhwebane, the public protector (a position which does not specifically require pronouncements on the economy) has called for an amendment to the Constitution, which would state that "The primary object of the Reserve Bank is to promote balanced and sustainable economic growth in the Republic, while ensuring that the socioeconomic wellbeing of the citizens are protected". A noble sentiment, but one which calls into question the Bank’s independence, and flies in the face of its primary role, ensuring the value of the rand in defence of economic growth. The same rand, by the way, which at time of going to press was clipping along nicely at under R13 to the dollar.  Mkhwebane, an ally of our deservedly embattled president, made these comments at a time when the rating agencies circle us like hooded assassins.

Comment: May we respectfully request that the protector, at this delicate time in the history of the Republic, shut the heck up?

Over in the UK, the BWG Group are talking up their investment in SPAR wholesaler Appleby Westward, which bought 63 SPARs in the south-west of England last year, has added another 4 and expects to recruit 24 independents to join the party this year. BWG, in line with the significant convenience trend, see consolidation in the convenience sector as a big opportunity for the business, rightly so.

So while the listing of Dis-Chem was not unaccompanied by disgruntlement from some punters who wanted in on the action but were hobbled by the partial and conditional nature of the exercise, others have done quite nicely out of the deal: for e.g. long-term investment company RECM and Calibre (RACP), which increased its net asset value a whacking 39% last year due to the sales of its Dis-Chem holdings, the proceeds of which delivered a dividend of R324millions.

As if the poultry business does not have enough on its proverbial plate (or not enough, rather), Astral Foods have confirmed an outbreak of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza at one of its breeding sites in Villiers. This marks the first time a highly pathogenic strain of the virus has found its way to these shores.