INVENTORY TAKING | Vegan options become more robust and SA moves up the job ladder

OPINION

Vegan Options Get More Robust

Please, sir, I want some more!

Gone are the days when the only plant-based main offering available in restaurants was a helping of deep-fried, crumbled mushrooms to the consistency of an old shoe. The luckier customers, if you can call them that, were sometimes spoiled by the added option of creamed spinach and overcooked walnuts. Neither of these options was too appealing, and frankly, even the titular character in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist would have balked at the idea of ​​asking for more.

Today, the plant-based food industry, globally and in SA, has become increasingly sophisticated and offers much more to the most demanding palates. Plant-based meat alternatives not only taste much better, but there is now a wide variety to choose from.

The only issue though is the price point as it is still a small slice of the food market in SA. Food is a volume game, which means that if relatively low volumes of said product are made and sold, this will unfortunately translate into a higher price. As a result, consumers often have to shell out, on average, more for plant-based prepared meals than their meat counterparts.

But there are many positive signs that this situation may ultimately change. First, there is a growing trend of people looking for healthier food options, which is helping to support the plant-based sector in SA.

Because of this, not only are there more restaurants offering plant-based food offerings, but some are even 100% focused on providing alternatives to meat. Second, SA supermarkets also offer a much wider variety of foods in this category. Third, there are many new entrants to the segment, which is fueling competition. And as we all know, nothing drives prices down quite like the competition.

Importantly, JSE-listed SA food producers are also exploring the plant-based sector, which is likely to provide further support for lower prices in the long run. Earlier this year, for example, the Tiger Brands venture capital fund announced that it had acquired a minority stake in Cape Town-based Herbivore Earthfoods for an undisclosed amount.

Last week, during its earnings release, RFG, which makes products like Rhodes and Bull Brand, also indicated it was monitoring the plant-based sector, having begun to expand into the ready meals division of that segment. Management was at pains to point out that while it is a strong growth market, it is coming off a low base.

But while RFG CEO Pieter Hanekom said the plant-based category isn’t a big deal in the South African context right now, it certainly has the potential to become one over time. With more players entering the market, the prices could become more attractive.

Also, “if you can also increase volumes and get a little bit of operating leverage, that will also drive prices down over time,” Hanekom said.

While a major reduction in prices is clearly not something that will happen overnight, lovers of plant-based foods can take solace in the fact that Tiger and RFG are taking this food segment seriously. Restaurant groups like Famous Brands also say the trend toward healthier eating looks set to continue. Others are likely to follow suit, and with that will no doubt come cries for “more” from SA consumers.

SA’s unemployment rate is now only the third worst in the world

Good work

With the last month of the year finally here, offering the prospect of festivities worthy of the name, it now appears that SA may have made it through a year of war and plague with fewer injuries than feared.

There is some good news, including the year passing without a new major corporate scandal, like a new Tongaat or Steinhoff, but also, the JSE is hovering in positive territory for the year and getting some notable new listings. The rand is close to breaking the right-hand side of the R17/$ level and rising inflation has apparently yet to kill the consumer economy, while many JSE-listed companies, fresh from years of cost containment and effective during Covid-19, they are still looking to expand.

Also, even though 2022 has the worst streak of rolling blackouts as well as flooding, some like Pakistan have it much worse, Europe is fighting with a ground war, China is still struggling with Covid-19, USA is still struggling with Covid-19. it continues to battle extreme political polarisation, and events in the UK have helped to dispel the notion, at least for some, that rich governments cannot go bankrupt.

It’s not all good news, of course, but Thursday’s unemployment data was at least one reason to be less Grinchy, showing a drop of a full percentage point to 32.9%. That’s less than a third!

The improvement means South Africa’s unemployment rate now trails Namibia and Nigeria in a list of 82 countries and the eurozone tracked by Bloomberg, though the global news agency continues to point out that some of its data is out of date.

But even if there are celebrations for the improving labor market, SA’s economic growth, according to the Reserve Bank’s latest forecast, is still pegged for 1.1% growth in 2023, before “accelerating” to 1. 4% in 2024 and 1.5% in 2025. Obviously, this is not enough for a significant reduction in unemployment, while there are also many caveats that even this level of growth is ambitious.

Also, before uncorking the champagne, it should be noted that the National Development Plan had set itself a target of a 14% unemployment rate by 2020. It was 24.9% in 2012 when the plan was unveiled.

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Tweet of the day

chart of the day

Source: SA Statistics

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day number

-39.9%

The drop in the number of discouraged job seekers in the city of Johannesburg in the third quarter of 2022, according to StatsSA. This is a decrease of 117,000.

Previously:

INVENTORY TAKING | The Moloko Seal was forced to make a call?

INVENTORY TAKING | Surviving on bread and Coca-Cola at the JSE

INVENTORY TAKING | Where did the Trustco trust go?

INVENTORY TAKING | Another SA firm burned in Australia and what Correos and Twitter have in common

INVENTORY TAKING | Will Gold Fields fall short?

INVENTORY TAKING | Chicken Licken looks into everyone’s souls and Shoprite has a following in Singapore

INVENTORY TAKING | The Dis-Chem elusive, and will you pay with cash, card or cryptocurrency?

INVENTORY TAKING | Discovery executives make bank

INVENTORY TAKING | Heineken keeps it green, Godongwana’s careful words and SA tax revolt odds

INVENTORY TAKING | In praise of the great worries of SA

INVENTORY TAKING | Eskom (sort of) spurs business spending, while superyacht heads to SA

INVENTORY TAKING | Telkom is planted and Markus 2.0

INVENTORY TAKING | Dis-Chem drama and Pick n Pay slump point to trouble ahead

INVENTORY TAKING | A Tale of Two Foundries, and Did the Banks Get the Home Loans Wrong?

INVENTORY TAKING | The Reserve Bank talks to hawks and Harmony resurfaces underground

INVENTORY TAKING | Allan Gray shines Gold Fields and Anglo’s Kusile-sized generator

INVENTORY TAKING | Pick n Pay’s Big Bet: Should You Follow Gerrie?

INVENTORY TAKING | Is Sasol’s hydrogen plan just hot air?

INVENTORY TAKING | Karooooo grows his Os and Ackerman tells it like it is

INVENTORY TAKING | A German cure for SA labor problems, and what is Schadenfreude in Swedish?

INVENTORY TAKING | Allan Gray shines Gold Fields and Anglo’s Kusile-sized generator

INVENTORY TAKING | Telkom avoids signal loss in the middle of the rain, and the Woolies win

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