South Africa

As international tourist arrivals to South Africa experience a resurgence, there has been a significant increase in airlift capacity, reaching levels comparable to pre-pandemic years. Cape Town International Airport, in particular, has reported a…

South Africa is struggling with the impact of high inflation and decreased disposable incomes, resulting in brands needing to be competitive to obtain their share of financially-restricted consumers’ budgets. Post-pandemic, eating out is considered a…

Laundry care in South Africa recorded a flat performance in 2023, although the largest category of laundry detergents continued to experience rising demand, a trend supported by a marginal decline in the average unit price. Laundry care in the…

The shortage of electricity across the country has resulted in increasing demand for alternative power sources such as solar and gas. Since the introduction of load shedding in South Africa, which restricts access to electricity for a certain amount…

Popular juice brand Liqui-Fruit (Pioneer Foods (Pty) Ltd for PepsiCo Inc) has been rebranded. Its packaging has switched from a colourful box to a white background where the logo’s colour is associated with the juice’s flavour. When compared to the…

Lab grown diamonds are gaining popularity in South Africa, and the reason for this is twofold. The first reason is that lab-grown diamonds are cheaper. Consumers have seen falling disposable incomes in 2023, and therefore lab-grown diamonds have…

Many South Africans face tough economic conditions due to the rising cost of living. This is forcing them to reduce their discretionary spending. Due to economic difficulties in the country, increasing numbers of consumers are trading down from…

The emergence of products with multiple functions across the consumer electronics industry continued to have a negative impact on in-car entertainment in South Africa in 2023. In-car navigation, for example, is increasingly affected by the fact that…

Imaging devices are increasingly under threat from alternative, better value for money products that serve the same purpose, most notably smartphones. Most new smartphones have an imaging functionality that competes with both digital cameras and…

Rolling blackouts (loadshedding) have persisted in 2023, averaging stage 4 for the year (at the time of writing this report), which means that consumers experience power cuts for three to four two-hour slots per day. As a result, consumers have cut…

The number of hypermarkets operating in South Africa continued to decline in 2023. The trend emerged just prior to the pandemic due to cautious investments in the wake of economic uncertainty in the country. This scenario was exacerbated by lockdown…

2022 saw many South Africans reduce their spending on perceived non-essentials as the cost of living increased. In many aspects, health and wellness demands from consumers took a backseat in their priorities, given inflationary pressures. Major…

With the continued development of the health and wellness industry in South Africa, children are being increasingly targeted as a significant consumer group for healthier soft drinks. Much of this is being driven by local parents, who are becoming…

Private label snacks have grown in popularity as South Africans seek affordable alternatives to well-known, established brands. Retailers are capitalising on this trend by investing in research and development to create innovative snacks that cater…

Hot drink innovations in 2022 were primarily focused on new offerings addressing consumer demand for non-animal products, including healthy plant-based alternatives, across chocolate-based, malt-based and other plant-based drinks. However, these…

2022 was a challenging year for many South Africans challenged by continuous blackouts, rising food inflation and unemployment. While consumers reduced non-essential spending to help balance household budgets, healthy eating remained top of mind.…

Globally, young adults are the key consumers of plant-based foods, and South Africa is no different. South Africa ranks in the top five countries that ordered the most vegan dishes according to UberEats, with vegan burgers reported as the most…

Flexible aluminium/plastic, which is the dominant pack type used in hot drinks packaging in South Africa, continued to record strong unit volume growth in this industry in 2023. Flexible aluminium/plastic packaging is seen as providing superior…

In 2023, rising inflation, which reached its highest level in 14 years, and increased input costs for brands are curbing the spending habits of many South Africans. Additionally, input costs for major industry players are rising as they adapt to…

Hosiery remains a small and declining category in South Africa (in retail volume sales terms). Generally, hosiery will account for low share of shelf in most apparel and retail stores. Similarly, expansion potential is relatively limited as there is…