Urban farmers in parts of Gauteng can breathe a sigh of relief following an announcement by Rand Water on Wednesday that it has finished refurbishing its pipeline on schedule. This, after it had implemented a 54-hour shutdown on a raw water pipe this week.
The water utility’s CEO, Sipho Mosai, said during a media briefing that the shutdown allowed technicians to carry out not only major work but also maintenance work on smaller elements such as valves.
Mosai said during his day-time briefing that residents could expect water pressure to be restored to all affected areas by yesterday (Wednesday) night.
Earlier this week, Food For Mzansi reported that some urban and hydroponic farmers in parts of the province were worried that the two-day shutdown would disrupt their own operations and be a big blow to food producers already affected by the city’s existing water woes.
Sibongile Cele, a hydroponic farmer in Hillbrow, said water was the moving force behind her business. “Hydroponic farmers have to farm with water. If there is no water, our farming is affected because we need to have water for our plants to survive.”
ALSO READ: Urban, hydro farmers brace for Rand Water shutdown
Food consumers are constrained
A deep analysis by NielsenIQ has revealed that South African shoppers have dramatically reduced the frequency of their monthly shopping trips, which are down from an average of five trips per month two years ago, to an average of three.
Furthermore, 500 000 households have been forced to stretch their monthly shop to beyond a month.
Elaborating on the findings, NielsenIQ South Africa MD Ged Nooy said that the reduction in the frequency of shopping trips has also led to an increase in basket size with consumers adding four more items to their baskets. This has increased from a total of eight, to 12.
“However, what we found is that consumers have not increased the number of categories they purchase from. Rather, there has been a reduction in the number of categories landing in their basket while they are upsizing on essential items. This behaviour change has resulted in the average basket value increasing from R226 pre-Covid-19 to R427.
Looking ahead, Nooy said with petrol prices going up, ongoing load shedding and a potential fourth wave of Covid-19, it’s unfortunately not a very optimistic outlook. Brands and retailers will feel the pressure of a constrained consumer in the last two months of 2021 and into 2022.
In light of this, he says; “It is critical for brands to understand their portfolios, price laddering, relative price position and promotional effectiveness. Assortment and innovation are also key as they feed into larger trends related to wellness, organic and sustainability.”
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