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A bit of a COVID-19 roundup. Clicks has announced that it will freeze the prices on all of its sanitary products for the duration and will take measures to ensure that its shelves are quickly restocked with these products during this time of high demand. They’ve also established a daily training programme for store staff and pharmacy managers on virus awareness and hygiene information. Shoprite has convened a special executive level task committee to ensure adherence to existing operational policies affecting employee and customer well-being and the supply chain, with response plans across the business to cover contingencies including supply chain disruption, product sourcing, additional hygiene and cleansing procedures, and education on prevention. Pick n Pay are encouraging online shoppers to make their purchases “wisely and kindly”, the best advice we’ve heard for a while. Comment: Right. Time for all retailers to put out statements of what they are doing to keep their supply chains running, their customers served and their staff safe during this time.

Comment:

In the United States – wealthiest country in the world, and home to a particularly rapacious breed of vulture capitalism – some of the biggest retailers, including Walmart, Target and Kroger, are refusing to give their workers paid sick leave, prioritising short-sighted incremental gains for shareholders over the well-being – even safety – of their staff and their shoppers. This is the very definition of unsustainable business. Over to Northern Ireland, in slightly muted celebration of St Patrick’s Day, a Lidl concept store in Dundonald has applied for a licence to open a pub. If the concept proves successful, they might roll it out elsewhere in the UK. Finally, to Thailand, where Tesco has chosen the CP Group to buy its 2,000 stores for the princely sum of $10bn. The Group already operates – get this – 12,000 7-Elevens in that convenience-loving country.

Comment: Subject of course to the usual permissions.

Venerable – yet of course still innovative – South African meat-alternatives outfit Fry’s has been invited to join a new global plant-based food collective, The Livekindly Co., launched in New York with a $200m round of funding. Livekindly’s members – right now, only Fry’s and German crew LikeMeat – are united in their commitment to bringing non-GMO, plant-based meat alternatives to increasingly eager consumers. Another partner, Puris Holding, produces plant-based ingredients, giving the collective some verticality, which is extended by the presence of Livekindly Media, a source for thought-provoking and inspiring content embracing a plant-based, sustainable, and compassionate lifestyle. The collective is headed up by Kees Kruythoff, ex of Unilever, and both Wally and Debbie Fry are part of the leadership teams.

Comment: Fantastic work, Fry’s – a global innovator and now a global force in this planet-saving movement.

The Rhodes Food Group, like so many other South African businesses, was not having a heckuva year, with its relatively newly listed share dropping -19% on slowing consumer demand in our very rough economy. Enter Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel, and Walmart International CEO, Judith McKenna, who met for a little apres-ski at Davos a year ago and together established that South African manufacturers might be worth a look for the retail giant’s offering. Accordingly, Walmart met with 18 local businesses last September, and established that seven had that elusive quality known as “export potential”. They were I&J (abalone and seafood), AVI (Freshpak Rooibos tea), Vinimark (wine), Distell (wine), Green Farms Nut Co (macadamia nuts), Glenart (Christmas crackers), and Rhodes (canned pears). Rhodes are now listed, and will be exporting 425g cans of pear slices in heavy syrup, 425g cans of pear halves in juice, and 850g cans of pears in heavy syrup to Walmart. And their share has jumped 7% on the news.

Comment: Excellent work Rhodes, which we flagged as a player some years ago, you might recall.

Just a few weeks after pulling off the best State of the Nation Address that could be expected, President Ramaphosa had to take to the podium again, this time to address an even bigger challenge. Again, under the circumstances, he did the best job possible, restricting travel to and from risky geographies, closing ports of entry and schools, restricting the size of public gatherings. He also announced a stimulus package for an economy facing a slowdown in demand from our Chinese, European and other global trading partners, and a decline in international tourism. The president’s measured tones and the raft of measures soothed markets somewhat, with a brief strengthening of the embattled rand shortly after the speech. Another glimmer right now, however dim, is the prospect of a rate cut from the Reserve Bank next week, influenced by the looming crisis and the modest rate of inflation.

Comment: Worrying times. But we could be in worse hands than the steady ones of Cyril and his economic team.