A little glimpse, it being a slow news week, into the competitive, lucrative but otherwise thankless world of the private label supplier. Verigreen – great name, btw, encompassing as it does both trustworthiness and a modest pun – is a Durban manufacturer and recycler of plastic goods, which include products for refuse disposal, cooking, baking, freezing and food protection. Started by husband and wife combo Mike and Thina Maziya, Verigreen now also boasts a contract for the manufacture of 25 different products under Shoprite’s Ritebrand and Housebrand labels. The great thing about Verigreen is that they source a lot of their plastic from a group of Supa Mamas – after whom they’ve also named their flagship brand, and this programme, currently based in KZN, where many quietly brilliant things originate, is likely to go national.

Comment: Over to you, Thina Maziya: “To land this business as a black and relatively young manufacturing entity attests to the fact that the Shoprite Group is indeed committed to giving market access to local entrepreneurs.”

A little more on the  really important people who joined the Woolworths family last week, and no, we’re not talking about the water guys, although Woolies must be relieved that something went unexpectedly right for them on social media for a change. We are, of course, referring to Mr Kneale and Mrs Skweyiya, brought in to shore up the board and help with the difficult decisions the Dapper One will need to make in the next couple years. Mr Kneale, in addition to his general retail experience, brings expertise in the beauty and cosmetics trade, an area in which Woolies seeks to grow, bringing in a wider range of global cosmetic brands and beginning to offer something known as a “cosmeceutical" experience instore. Beauty experienced strong growth at Clicks during Kneale’s tenure there. On the downside, say some analysts, what the board really needs now is more members with experience in the thorny and arid wastelands of Australian retail.

Comment: Although you don’t necessarily have to choose, do you?

We’re pretty sure the copywriter really, really wanted the client to go with “Meet Your Maker”, but slightly wiser heads prevailed, and what we have is a slightly less fatalistic “Meet The Maker”, an otherwise extremely commendable initiative by Pick n Pay, which is in the midst of a major small-supplier development drive at the moment. “Meet the Maker” involves store space being set aside in an initial eight locations nationwide for the showcasing of small ‘Pick Local’ suppliers and their products, which range from table salt, through cookies to household cleaning products.  Pick n Pay, you will recall, launched its Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) programme last year with 100 suppliers, whom it supported through enterprise development and training to the tune of R170m.

Comment: A win for the business, a win for small suppliers and a third, special win for the Beloved Country, which needs all the good news it can get right now.

Speaking of private label, which we were just above, those Libstar results. Libstar, you will recall, produces Denny mushrooms, Pringles and the Lancewood dairy range, as well as a whole bunch of private label food for the big retailers, including Woolies, Shoprite and Pick n Pay, and they’ve just released their first set of results since listing last year. How did that go? Not bad, considering: revenue up +12.5% to R9.9bn, and operating profit down -3.5% to R574.9m – the latter due in part to an impairment loss of R42m in its dairy-blend and fruit concentrate beverage division, the future of which is under consideration. The business is focusing its efforts in some promising areas – a new tea plant for the local and export markets, a new soft-cheese facility, and the expansion of its prepared meal operations, to meet demand from a growing convenience sector.

Comment: Promising stuff, after a not-so-good listing and even worse interims. We’ll be keeping an eye on their progress with considerable interest.

Trouble down in the canefields as Tongaat Hulett’s new CEO Gavin Hudson brings in PwC to look over the books, on the suspicion that there was something iffy going on with land sales, which may have been tacked onto the bottom line to give it a bit of a boost before the sales themselves actually went through. As far as we can tell, anyway. To send a further chill down the boxer shorts of worried investors is the fact that PwC were also appointed to have a gander at things just as they were going south at Steinhoff. And in other news of the worrying among the rolling hills north of Durban come calls from punters for Aspen CEO Stephen Saad and deputy Gus Attridge to consider hanging up their white coats for the good of the team. Some analysts believe that in expanding manufacturing capacity ahead of actual sales, Aspen abandoned the model that got it to where it was: a manufacturer of inexpensive generics for emerging markets.

Comment: The boom years of the Mbeki administration saw the growth of some great South African businesses. It is to be hoped that they will ride out the storms of these more difficult years.

The Reserve Bank – operating at time of writing with the independence it has historically enjoyed – deliberates about the interest rate at the end of the month. Which way will it go? If inflation is anything to go by, sideways: the CPI slowed to 4% for the month of January, you will recall, sliding from 4.5% in December, and lower than the predictions of 4.3%. But, it seems likely that the fuel price is in for a jump in the weeks to come, and with electricity 13.8% up on last year, it will also make itself felt in the basket. By the time you clap your eyes on this deathless prose, retail sales for the month of January will have been released, so you’ll known how that went. Year on year, you will recall, 2018 came in at +2.1% compared to +3.1% in 2017.

Comment: Hard times. The businesses that ride these out will be well-positioned for the upswing, when it comes.

In Germany, Lidl is installing charging points for electric vehicles at 400 of its stores, and competitors Kaufland and Aldi are catching up fast, too. In the US, retailers Walmart and Target are disrupting Amazon right back, with their share prices up +14.16% and +12.73% respectively, while rival Amazon lags at +6.03%. As Walmart and Target head online, paradoxically, their existing stores, doubling as pick-up points, are increasing foot traffic – while online retailer Amazon is only now developing the bricks and mortar stores its shoppers demand.

Word on the street is that AVI, which turned in a fairly solid set of interims if you take out the footwear component, may be on the lookout for possible acquisitions, at a time when other businesses are looking at restructuring. Possible targets for acquisitions may, say pundits, include units currently owned by Libstar, the Rhodes Food Group, and maybe even Pioneer Foods. Watch this space.

Larging it on the loyalty front this week are Pick n Pay, who are doubling up on their Smart Shopper Just for You discounts every Thursday through to the 7th of April. Over 520 million cash-off discounts will be loaded onto shoppers accounts, based on their shopping histories. And, presumably, bringing them rushing into the stores to redeem these. Nice work.