Some years back, when Checkers first launched its Little Shop line of mini groceries, we dismissed them as a gimmick not worthy of that most hard-nosed of retailers. But Checkers and time proved us wrong – the items were a hit with kids and an incentive for parents to part with some of their hard-earned at Checkers on a more regular basis. Now they’re back, and reportedly driving sales hand over fist. The new line includes a Sixty60 delivery bike, Nescafé Gold, Baby Soft toilet paper, Huggies Gold nappies, Lindt chocolate, Tastic Rice, FutureLife and even Simple Truth plant-based sausages, is made out of 100% recycled plastics, and is packaged in FSC-certified cardboard. And Shoprite being Shoprite, it will drive not only sales but membership to the loyalty programme, and use of the delivery service too: in an offer exclusive to Xtra Savings members, punters will receive a free Little Shop collectable for every R200 spent in Checkers, Checkers Hyper, Checkers Foods and via Sixty60.

Comment: According to the not-easily-impressed analysts of Trade Intelligence, the promotion is an absolute winner for Checkers.

In May, Pick n Pay announced its ‘Ekuseni: A New Dawn’ strategy, by which the business would offer three distinct customer value propositions: one for the high-end market, another for the middle (Project Red), and the third for emerging consumers under the Boxer brand. Now, the revamp to the flagship store On Nicol has shown just what the higher-end offering might look like: an enhanced fresh food experience, a huge focus on product quality, a much-improved range, innovative third-party services, and refreshed customer service, bigger and better deli and prepared meal counters, a chocolatier, a dedicated coffee station, a revamped sushi counter, a new Teppanyaki grill bar, and for beer lovers, a Growler bar. And a new Wellness Zone boasts a PnP pharmacy and offers a full range of clinic services from the MyLife Healthcare Centre. And speaking of wellness, albeit obliquely, its new gourmet ‘Crafted Collection’ private label range seems designed to go head-to-head with Forage and Feast over at Checkers.

Comment: Opportunities now abound for suppliers wishing to cater to South Africa’s still-thriving spenders.

Makro is 51 years young this year, and to celebrate its ongoing good health plans to give away prizes worth R3m. First prize, it seems, is a cool million, while some of the others provide a look at the things Makro has traditionally done well and areas in which it plans to expand: 1 of 28 gift cards worth R51,000 (because Makro cards, see?), one of three 3 solar installations worth R169,000 from Magneto Renewable Energy, a new priority, and one of 51 liquor hampers worth R4,000 each, which wouldn’t even get you onto the classier pages of its famous liquor catalogue. It has also just launched its exclusive Makro Shopping App in time for the festivities. Next up, Pick n Pay Clothing has grown sales +17% in the four-odd months through July 3, and Woolies also reports that clothing is going great guns despite having reduced its footprint in store. And Shoprite is shooting the lights out across the board, growing sales +11.9% for the year ending 3 July, more on that no doubt next week. Finally, with the release of the draft Game (not the retailer) Meat Strategy by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, SA’s retailers are gearing up to put more impala, kudu, wildebeest and springbok in their chest freezers and onto your Weber. “This is a big business for us, which we are looking to expand,” says a visibly fired-up Woolworths.

Comment: Suppliers: bring out your great-great Ouma’s recipe book.

In a nod to the growing power of labour as industries in developed countries struggle to fill positions at their tillpoints and in their transportation fleets, Aldi in the UK has given its workers a second raise for the year, increasing hourly pay by 40p taking it to £10.50 nationally, and £11.95 in the greater London region. Aldi remains the UK’s highest paying supermarket. To Earth Mother Health Foods, now, in Farmington, Missouri, currently sustaining $5,000 in lost sales every month as local consumers tighten their belts in the face of inflation and specifically rising petrol prices. Amazon, apparently, is picking up much of the slack with its lower prices. “Everybody has got to make that dollar work,” says owner Mary Lee Visnovske. “I think people are scared to death.” And speaking of Amazon, in news which will surely send a shiver down the spines of Clicks, Dis-Chem and anyone else who earns a crust flogging medicines, the global delivery juggernaut has just spent a cool $3.9m buying US healthcare provider One Medical, in a further incursion into every area of our lives.

Comment: Great power, great responsibility. Can businesses like Amazon be trusted to exercise the latter?

After a difficult period which saw several high-level changes in the executive suite, Oceana Brands seems well set up for smoother sailing. Acting CEO Neville Brink has been confirmed in the role, and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers have handed in their notice, passing the keys to the safe over to Mazar’s. The release of a voluntary trading update ahead of its results indicates that things are on the turn. Canned fish – mainly pilchard – sales volumes for the third quarter were +14.5% higher YoY here at home, and gulf menhaden catches in the US were +83% up. Menhaden, known as the “McDonalds of the Ocean” as everyone eats them, are used in the production of fishmeal and fish oil, and Oceana’s inventories of these commodities are up + . Similarly, African fishmeal and fish oil production volumes in the third quarter were +28% higher than in the comparative period. While catches of hake and horse mackerel are down, with sales volumes reduced by -10% over the preceding three quarters, demand remains high for both overseas, and once Oceana has dealt with some fleet maintenance issues in Namibia, volumes should improve.

Comment: Seafood is an incredibly challenging sector. It’s good to see one of our iconic practitioners in this area meeting these challenges with a newly invigorated management team.

According to the Tiger Brands Foundation (TBF) – and admittedly, Tiger does have a horse in the race, as it were – load shedding is pushing a lot more households into buying fast food, thus increasing the risk of obesity. “A lot of food is spoiled as a result of load shedding,” says TBF ops manager Karl Muller, correctly. “Frozen foods can defrost and food items that need refrigeration warm up, while food that is mid-cook[ed] or needs a complete cycle in an oven, such as bread, is often ruined by blackouts.” In other health-related news, local pharmaceutical manufacturers Adcock Ingram and Aspen are justifiably up in arms about government’s award of 49% of South Africa’s R11bn ARV tender to Indian manufacturers. Finally, AB InBev and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (Unitar), have renewed their partnership agreement for continued improvements to road safety, for the development of initiatives focused on women empowerment and entrepreneurship and the promotion of sustainable water management practices.

Comment: Three stories which illustrate how businesses serve the social agenda, and that the line between government, civil society, and the corporate sector are becoming more fluid.

To no one’s real surprise, not even economists, who in this instance were right on the money so to speak, the dear old South African Reserve Bank raised the prime lending rate by 75 basis points to 5.5% last Thursday, to curb the inflation rate which has slipped above the Government’s targeted 3-6% band, as we reported recently. Where were we? Ah yes. Over to you, SARB Chair Lesego Kganyago. “In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and aggravated geopolitical tensions, the global economy has entered a period of persistently high inflation and weaker economic growth. Russia’s war in Ukraine will continue to impair production and trade of a wide range of energy, food and other commodities.” The Bank anticipates that the economy will grow at +2% in 2022, up from the forecasted +1.7%. GDP growth for 2023 was adjusted southward from +1.9% to +1.3%. In the meantime, although it experienced a slight uptick YoY, the rate of consumers who defaulted on their loans for the first time increased in the first quarter of 2022 according to Experian South Africa’s Consumer Default Index, raising fears that even those who can afford credit are now feeling the pinch.

Comment: Headwinds. Would we actually know what to do without them, any more, is the question.