The Shoprite Group has announced that it actively taking steps to make sure that financially-pressed customers can afford to eat – even if they have just R5 in their pockets.
The retailer said that there are currently more than 1,000 products available in its stores for R5 or less, adding that over 13,000 of the group’s products are currently selling at lower prices than last year.
“For less than R5, customers are able to buy a range of bakery, deli, fruit and veg as well as grocery products. A chicken hotdog, a fried egg and tomato sandwich or soup and igwinya (vetkoek) are all available for under R5 at Shoprite delis,” it said.
“With unemployment at a staggering 27.2% and economic growth expectations at barely more than 1% for 2018, it is clear that more consumers are experiencing severe financial difficulty, and food scarcity is a growing concern.”
Other items you can buy for R5 or less include:
  • 18 different deli meals such as pap, sweetcorn on a stick or a boiled egg and igwinya combo.
  • Bakery items, including 600g in-house bakery bread, a muffin, hamburger roll, scone and more.
  • Everyday groceries, including 73g Maggi 2min noodles, 50g Pot O’ Gold peanut butter, 150g Morvite porridge, 50g Knorr chicken soup, etc.
South Africans buying less
According to a recent Nielsen report, based on the purchasing behaviour within 4,000 representative households across the country, South African households have been hard-hit by recent price increases.
“We have seen a move towards consumers spending more on dry groceries and perishables with staples remaining stable,” said Nielsen client service director, Kelly Arnold.
“The highest amount of spend is happening in frozen chicken and ready to eat cereals, sugar and UHT milk (a long-term trend) and canned meat.”
The latter might be because of the listeriosis crisis earlier this year, Arnold said, which compelled many consumers to switch from cold meats, which saw a big drop.
Looking at the specific categories that have experienced the biggest declines household/cleaning goods which are no longer seen as a necessity have dropped by 6%, and beverages by 6% – with carbonated soft drinks experiencing particularly negative performance.
“In this regard, contributing factors may well be the shift in volumes from 500ml to 450 ml size bottle within some of the top brands as well as an influx of other brands carving out a market share for themselves and now spreading their national footprint,” said Arnold.