DURBAN - The Shoprite Group has partnered with SA Canegrowers in a campaign to encourage consumers to buy locally-produced sugar.
This comes as the sugar industry has been facing serious challenges over the past decade including drought, increased production costs, falling world sugar prices, and the introduction of a sugar tax.
Weak trade was labelled as a major threat against increasing sugar imports, which cost the local industry more than R2.2 billion in 2019.
These challenges reportedly threatened 21 000 small-scale growers, 65 000 direct jobs, 270 000 indirect jobs, and the million people the industry supports.
SA Canegrowers countered the threats by launching the Home Sweet Home campaign late last year to encourage consumers to safeguard rural jobs through buying locally-produced sugar, and educating them about the threat facing the local industry due to an influx of cheap sugar imports.
In turn, the Shoprite Group, which is Africa’s largest retailer with 1 189 stores, rolled out in-store advertising in its sugar aisles to enable the campaign to reach more consumers, and help protect South African jobs and livelihoods.
Louis du Plessis, deputy general manager Foods Buying at Shoprite, said: “This partnership will see the Shoprite Group prioritising selling only locally-produced sugar in its 1 189 Shoprite, Checkers, Checkers Hyper and Usave supermarkets and promoting the Home Sweet Home campaign to its customers,” he said.
SA Canegrowers chairperson Andrew Russell welcomed the Shoprite Group’s efforts to achieve this target and partnering with them in the campaign.
“We hope to see more retailers and other industry stakeholders follow Shoprite’s example and commitment to helping us secure the future of the industry and its workers,” he said.
According to SA Canegrowers, the government, sugar industry and other key stakeholders developed a Sugar Industry Value Chain Masterplan to ensure the long-term sustainability and profitability of the sector.
Under the Masterplan, retailers have committed to procuring at least 80% locally-produced sugar by the end of the first year of the plan’s implementation.
Daily News