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Your Shoprite results, then, for the 52 weeks through June, and they’re spectacular, under the circs: Group turnover +9.6% to R184.1bn, with SA supers leading the charge, +10.1% to R147.4bn, and non-SA supers recovering nicely, growing +10.4% to R17.1bn. The Shoprite brand saw more muted growth, having been badly affected by last year’s civil unrest, and growing sales just +6.7%. Checkers – the object of scrutiny as it takes on Woolies and Pick n Pay in the still-healthy upper-LSMs – grew sales +9.1% to R58.7bn. Trading profit was up a more modest +6.8% to R11bn, with expenses growing 10.7% to R37.7bn. Private brands were a big seller for the period, contributing +18.8% to the overall mix. In its “multi-year transformational journey”, say Shoprite, it has shifted to a phase of amplification, in which it will unlock the value in the ecosystem it has created. Not that its resting on its laurels – the intention, it says, is to continue to provide value to punters, while growing the overall business, and even doing some good in the world.

Comment: Another great year from this unstoppable juggernaut of our sector. For more on those results, have a look over here.

Woolies also released its results last week, and while the numbers appear uninspiring at first glance – with turnover up just +1.7% to R80.1bn – the underlying story is one of tentative recovery from a difficult ambit. While Food – traditionally the handsomely-packaged jewel in the Woolies crown – was up just +4% to R39.9bn, Fashion, Beauty and Home came through at a pleasing +5% up to R13.6bn. And losses at the underperforming Aussie assets (Aussets? No. Ed.) seem to have been arrested, despite a crippling three-month lockdown in the first quarter, with David Jones now treading water rather than sleeping with the fishes, and Country Road on a promising growth trajectory. Still, the consensus among the gimlet-eyed analysts is that the Aussie acquisition was an unforced error (similar to Nick Kyrios’ many just the other night), and that there are rumblings in the Antipodean press of some sort of sale afoot. Woolies, as usual, are not saying anything either way.

Comment: The full recovery of this icon of South African retail will cause us all to breathe more easily. In the meantime, more details on those results over here.

Last week our research team had an opportunity to sit down with Clicks Managing Executive Vikash Singh on the back of the retailer being recognised as the top brand for both Experience and Function in the Kantar BrandZ Top 30 Most Valuable South African Brands 2022 special awards. “I believe the reason why we have won this award is because customers could see that we are adapting to their changing needs,” said Mr Singh. “We play in an emotional category focused on the health, beauty and wellness needs of people – that is how we cement ourselves in the mind of the consumer.” At a time when online sales are threatening the traditional retail model, Clicks is reinventing itself to provide something a website cannot. For example, it is repositioning beauty through a store-within-a-store, enabling its experiential offering and creating theatrics in beauty. At the same time, its positioning itself to succeed in the omnichannel world, establishing seamless digital engagement through the Clicks app and WhatsApp, and using these channels to drive enrolment in its legacy ClubCard loyalty programme, still a shining jewel in the Clicks crown.

Comment: An iconic South African business, covering all bases.Click here for more from that interview.

To the Competition Tribunal first, where SPAR, Pick n Pay and SACCAWU have joined ranks to object to Shoprite’s acquisition of certain Massmart assets, including 56 supermarkets and 43 liquor stores under the Rhino and Cambridge brands, as well as a meat processing plant and three Fruitspot processing facilities. Bad for competition, argue the complainants, and potentially threatening to jobs. Next, Good Things Guy, Brent Lindeque, has launched an initiative with SPAR to establish a ‘Leave One Take One’ tree outside of every store for reusable shopping bags, on the understanding that sometimes you bring ‘em with you, and sometimes you don’t, and that there are plenty to go around. The initiative launched last week, with an initial goal of one store per province before more extensive rollout. Finally, Pick n Pay have once again been unsuccessful in procuring a liquor license on the Atlantic Seaboard, withdrawing the application for their Camp’s Bay store after apparently amicable discussions with the Camps Bay Ratepayers Association (CBCRA) and the local CPF.

Comment: We’re a little confused, perhaps someone can elucidate… the Competition Commission has already approved the Massmart acquisition and now it’s with the Competition Tribunal, where it seems to be standard operating procedure for competitors to object. Huh?

In the US, Walmart is proving that you can put a price on loyalty, and it’s $110. That’s the fee Sam’s Club top-tier ‘Plus’ members will now pay for their membership, up from $100 and the first increase in nine years. Regular members will now pay $50, an increase of $5. This as store visits to the big-box discounter have increased after COVID and because of inflation (thanks, among other things, to fuel discounts it offers), and Club membership is an all-time high. And speaking of Le Inflation, as it’s known in the Francophone world, in Belgium, Carrefour has announced a 100-day price freeze on 100 common consumer products under its private label brands, as part of its “anti-inflation challenge”. This as rival Lidl slaps monthly 5% discounts on select products in its French outlets. Supermarket prices have risen a sharp +12.33% this year and – fun fact – are now that low-lying country’s highest point. And in Nigeria, investment outfits Tana Africa Capital and Sango Capital have made a minority investment in Sundry Markets, one of that challenging market’s fastest-growing modern grocery retailers, with 21 stores already up and running.

Comment: Proof again, if any were needed, that the loyalty programme, far from a nice to have, is an essential of modern retailing.

A couple of sets of results for your reading pleasure this week. First up, Anglovaal Industries Limited (AVI), which reports that Group revenue for the six months through June grew +4.3% to R13.8bn, with operating profit up +5.4% to R2.5bn. The Entyce Beverages and Snackworx divisions performed well, while there was a slight decline in operating profit over at I&J, beset as it was by a stronger rand and fuel price increases; taking I&J out of the equation, Group operating profit would have been up a handsome +8%. In 2023, it will, it says, work hard to protect its Entyce and Snackworks margins in a tough environment while growing the profitability of its personal care brands. Over at RCL FOODS, meanwhile, revenue was up a pleasing +10.2% to R34.9bn, with continued momentum in Sugar, a return to profitability in Chicken, and a solid performance at Vector Logistics. Groceries were also up; pies and beverages faced some challenges. HEPS – a solid marker of profitability – were up +9.9%.

Comment: Two diversified businesses, taking more of the good than the bad in a challenging market.

Results this week also from Aspen Pharmacare, which grew revenue +2% to R38.6bn and gross profit +3% to R16.1bn. HEPS were up +31%. Looking forward, the business has just inked a deal with the Serum Institute of India for the manufacture, marketing and distribution of four Aspen-branded paediatric vaccines in Africa. Moving on, Famous Brands, owner of Steers, Wimpy, and Fishaways, assures panic-stricken tuber afficionados that South Africa does not face a shortage of frozen chips, and that there may be instead an oversupply of the crunchy commodity – a sentiment echoed by CEO of Potatoes SA, Willie Jacobs. This despite a warning by import-export crowd Hume International, which warned of a potential shortage of frozen chips from Europe in the face of increased tariffs. Finally, rebellion in the soy fields as ProVeg South Africa plans to host a “rebellious” Heritage Day braai amid government’s threats to seize vegetarian burgers and sausages in the meat lobby’s naming war. Brands like Fry’s, Oumph!, Meatless Farm, Outcast Foods, Urban Vegan, Veggiewors, OKJA, CultureLab, and B-well are partnering in the event.

Comment: Meat alternatives is a potentially massive new category, based on growing consumer demand for planet-healthy protein alternatives. The meat industry should diversify rather than fight the inevitable.

Bad news from the beard-tuggers over at StatsSA, who informed us on Tuesday that gross domestic product (GDP) was down -0.7% in the second quarter of the year, exceeding the expectations of economists on the downside to the tune of -0.2%. This was driven substantially by a contraction of -5.9% in the manufacturing sector, and declines of -7.7% and -3.5% in agriculture and mining respectively. The trade, catering and accommodation industry, into which our own great sector falls, saw a more modest decline of -1.5%, and household final consumption expenditure increased by +0.6%, probably the biggest driver of growth. Net exports were also down, relative to imports. On the upside, economically speaking, we were blessed with a major drop in the fuel price just yesterday, and this will take some of the edge off what is already a worrying third quarter outlook.

Comment: Tough times, no sugar coat. Time to tighten the belt and help the neighbours when we can.