Pick n Pay has given the market notice that job cuts to the tune of 10% of its workforce – or 3,500 souls – will weigh on its first-half results. The cuts, which take the form of voluntary retrenchments at head office, in the regional structures, store operations and supply chain, will cost the business in the short term, but the savings should make themselves felt in the second half, all things being equal. The positions are “no longer required due to improvements in organisation, planning and technology,” says Pick n Pay, putting a positive spin on things. “The reduction in employee numbers will have a significant positive impact on the operating costs of the group, creating additional headroom to reduce prices and improve value for customers,” they continue, waxing positively Pollyana-ish. 

Comment: The market rewarded this grim news with an initial uptick in the share price. Bring on the triple bottom line.

Continuing to take a broad view of its new-found status as a publicly traded company is one Dis-Chem, which has a succession plan in place that involves changing the first names of the people at the top. So as Ivan Saltzman eyes the daunting curves of the number 80, his son (and group executive) Saul Saltzman may be waiting in the wings to take the top job. Although, the business hastens to assure us, there is no shortage of non-family talent around the place. But hey, it might be a little early to be talking succession: Mr Saltzman Snr. has plenty of spring in his step, and on his balance sheet too: revenue for the year was up 15% to R17.3bn, with operating profit growing 24.3% to R1.1bn. Dispensary remained the biggest contributor at 36% of turnover. 

Comment: An exciting business finding its way as it grows beyond the total control of its founding family.

Packing up our troubles in the Louis Vuitton kitbag, and stepping briskly up the gangway into our G6, it’s off to Blighty we go, where Tesco is extending its same-day grocery delivery service for online orders across the entire kingdom. Rival Sainsbury’s, by contrast, offers the service from only 30 stores. Sticking with Sainsbury’s, for the moment, the quintessential British grocer is busy assessing the ‘emotional’ and ‘functional’ connection of shoppers to the brands across the 34,000 SKUs on their shelves, and seriously putting the wind up suppliers, who fear seeing their precious properties reduced to the status of mere commodities, or worse, cleared out as dead wood. Finally, Whole Foods has turned in a tidy set of quarterlies, which must be cheering to Jeff Bezos (deposed after a recent and very brief reign as the world’s richest man) as, Borg-like, he prepares to assimilate the crunchy retailer into his Amazon empire. 

Comment: So three aspects of a global retail shake-up really, that’s all.

Comment: Not too shabby, eh Nige, given the circumstances.

Six months ago, Unilever had a brush with destiny, and not in a good way, seeing off a takeover bid from Kraft (which is controlled by piratical private equity outfit 3G) to howls of rage from some of its own shareholders who had their eye on a quick buck. The narrow escape has caused Le Grand Bleu to sharpen its focus, on both the bottom line and the mission. Under Polman, Unilever has taken to itself the UN Human Development Goals, attempting to build them into its business model in order to improve the health and hygiene of consumers everywhere. This mission, Polman believes, is achievable with a long-term “compounding” view of capital, where major short-term profitability (of 25%, say) is eschewed in favour of more modest but indefinitely sustainable growth. 

Comment: Polman’s mettle has been tested, but success in the face of shareholders clamouring for a more traditional approach to the bottom line is far from assured.

Look, we’re only quoting economists here, so don’t get too excited. But those worthies, after much beard-tugging and pate-polishing, have suggested that food prices might soon fall on the news of a massive maize harvest, the effects of which will be felt well into 2018. Last year, you will recall, we had to import five million tons of the stuff on a weak rand, increasing input prices across the board, and driving food inflation skyward. Interestingly, a lot of the production is in white maize, which is not as popular overseas as the yellow stuff, leaving us with a lot of it kicking around back home. However, while this abundance will lower the price of feedstock for the meat and poultry industries, don’t hold your breath for cheaper rib eye just yet: it takes those industries three to five years to recover from the effects of a drought like the one we’ve just had. 

Comment: Good news for meat and poultry, though, is that the cash consumers save on the basics could be spent in those more indulgent categories.

Raisins – you remember them, your old mum used to slip them into your lunchbox for a treat – are on the road to recovery, you will be pleased to know, after unseasonable rain in the dry season along the Orange River in the Northern Cape where they are grown by the bushel. This saw farmers selling them to wineries rather than risking that they rot due to the high rainfall, reducing the crop to 48,000 tons, rather than the usual 60,000 to which it should return this year. 

SA’s protein-mad punters are eschewing the shiny silver counter-tops of the newly-revamped butchery section in SA’s traditional retailers, and taking their business to wholesalers, where they stock up in bulk in order to save mucho moola – as much as 40% on the monthly bill, apparently. And they’re prepared to drive miles to the rural outposts where meat is produced and where bargains are to be had. Put that in your business plan, and, erm smoke it.

Pick n Pay has just opened its second online DC, this one in Gauteng, in advance of the launch a new online shopping website and an upgraded version of the Pick n Pay mobile app later this year. “It is the next step in our journey to build an advanced, convenient and simple omnichannel shopping experience for our clients,” says Deputy CEO Richard van Rensburg.

Excellent work in the community this week from Massmart, who have just launched their inaugural Urban Bookshelf, a free community mini-library, at the Phefeni Recreation Centre in Orland, Soweto.  No fees, no cards, just access to a curated collection of 400-500 books for communities where they are needed. Other locations have been identified around Joburg; it is to be hoped that the project gains traction and is rolled out nationally.