Kit Kat are a successful independent wholesale outfit with a very snappy logo, and it seems, aspirations of some scale. From humble beginnings in the old Asiatic Bazaar in 1953, the business has grown into a force in the industry, serving independent retailers and bargain-hungry shoppers alike, with 4 Kit Kat Cash & Carry stores (including hardware) and 21 Kit Kat Express outlets. Right now, though, it’s going up against the likes of Pep and Mr Price with the launch of three clothing outlets trading under the Kit Kat Clothing brand in early December. With convenience as the watchword, the stores will be located near existing cash & carry outlets in Silverton, Pretoria West and Benoni.

Comment: A diverse offering from a venerable but forward-looking family business, which seems to understand its market.

“So how’s the new feller shaping up?” you enquire. Pretty good so far, would be the measured response. New Massmart CEO Mitch Slape certainly gets about, anyway, conducting unannounced weekly store walkabouts and parking-lot town halls with head office staff that are shared with the rest of the Group. He’s starting to embed a culture of cost control, with an “every rand matters” campaign to sensitise employees to decisions they make every day. He is also looking at instituting Group-wide negotiations on a number of different levels, and reducing rental where possible. The online retail offering is another priority, particularly clarifying Massmart’s approach to food. And finally, he plans on deepening the relationship with the business where he cut his teeth. “I think there’s a tremendous opportunity for us to really supercharge this business with a closer relationship with Walmart in doing a lot of things I know Walmart does incredibly well,” he says.

Comment: Exciting times for the Men in Black. Especially for those managers not expecting the store visit on an idle Friday.

A 20-week update from Woolies, and like you we’ve been waiting for some good news from the Dapper One for how long now? And it’s not so bad, all things considered: while overall sales were up only +2.2% Group-wide for the period, Food came in at +8.8% up YoY and Fashion, Beauty and Home sales grew by +2.8% here in the Beloved Country. No surprise, then, to hear that David Jones, its benighted Antipodean acquisition, saw sales decline -2.1%, dragged thither by disruptions from the much-vaunted refurbishment of its Elizabeth Street store in Sydney. The business grew market share back home under tough conditions, and grew retail space by +3.6%. Online was a howling success, with sales up +68%, and its contribution to overall turnover now an impressive 10.4%.

Comment: Even at a time of burgeoning competition, Woolies has built itself a near-unassailable position in food for the posher punter. It’s even holding its own in clothing, beating the market averages. But Australia now…

The dust has barely settled in the aisles (and indeed on the keyboards) so it’s still probably too early to say how this year’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday combo has landed with punters. But anecdotal evidence suggests that they came out, dutifully, and did their bit for the old economy. There were crowds, there were queues, shoppers bought both big-ticket items and small, and some maintained that the discounts were neither deep, nor wide enough. But the day passed without violent incident, which is something. It also brought forth the pundits, who were comparing such vital statistics as the Inventory-to-Sales Ratio (ISR) among the retailers, with Shoprite overstocked, Pick n Pay understocked, and Clicks, Woolworths and SPAR solidly in the middle. Overstocked retailers tend to rely more heavily on special events like Black Friday to bring things back into balance.

Comment: We’re on the fence about this festival of consumption that comes just a month before the Christmas season.

Doing the right thing by the sons and indeed daughters of the soil this week are Tiger Brands, which in their drive to achieve verticality in the value chain are investing R40m this year in emerging farmers, a number that will balloon to R100m in just two years. The enterprise supplier development fund involves a rigorous training schedule, access to finance and a guaranteed take-off purchase for the crops, as well as frequent farm inspections to ensure the quality and predictability of supply. A new focus for the project is wheat production; Tiger has contracted 48 farmers, many of them women, to combine their lands and purchase their equipment together on a 500ha farm in Taung, North West, reducing the company’s dependence on imports.

Comment: Nice to have some good news from the Striped One at last.

So PepsiCo has agreed to buy Pioneer Foods for $1.7bn, in a move, says PepsiCo, that will give it a “beachhead for expansion across the continent.” PepsiCo’s on a bit of a tear at the moment, having picked up SodaStream last year for $3.2bn. Pioneer is something of a plum: one of SA’s largest manufacturers, its owns 22 food and beverage brands, which are considered a good fit for PepsiCo’s stable, and exports to more than 80 countries. Of interest in the light of the Tiger Brands story is that PepsiCo has a sustainable farming programme which it’s keen to expand in Africa, working with local farmers to help boost yields, improve livelihoods, and preserve natural resources. The deal’s not done yet: Pioneer’s shareholders have yet to give it the nod, as do the competition authorities.

Comment: Still, a big one if it comes off, that will shake up the local landscape a bit.

A worrying 19.7% of South Africa’s manufacturing capacity is currently standing idle, the worst level since the drought of four years ago. This as domestic demand remains weak on poor economic growth and high unemployment, and global demand struggles under the burden of trade tensions between China and the US. Business confidence, which despite a recent uptick remains weak at around 26 points, is unlikely to give the sector the investment boost it sorely needs: fixed investment in manufacturing has declined by -25% in 11 years. It’s not a uniformly bleak story though: in areas like agro-processing, there is potential for growth through beneficiation and export. And what of GDP StatsSA? Well, as feared, growth in the third quarter contracted by -0.6%, with mining and quarrying hitting us the hardest at -6.1%, although trade, catering and accommodation (that’s us) grew by +2.6%. So there’s that.

Comment: Another set of indicators, another worrying trend. Hang in there, SA.