THE Shoprite Group have partnered with SA Canegrowers on its Home Sweet Home campaign to encourage South African consumers to buy locally-produced sugar.
This partnership will see the Shoprite Group, which is Africa’s largest retailer, prioritising selling only locally-produced sugar in its 1 189 Shoprite, Checkers, Checkers Hyper and Usave supermarkets in South Africa, and promoting the Home Sweet Home campaign to its customers.
SA Canegrowers launched its Home Sweet Home campaign on 9 December 2020 with the aim of educating consumers about the threats the local industry is facing when it comes to the influx of cheap sugar imports and to encourage them to buy locally-produced sugar in order to safeguard rural jobs.
In January 2022, the Shoprite Group have rolled out in-store advertising in the sugar aisles of all their stores that encourages consumers to buy local sugar. Given Shoprite’s extensive footprint, the partnership is a significant development for South African canegrowers and the one million people they support. Its involvement will enable the Home Sweet Home message of buying local sugar to reach more consumers and help protect South African jobs and livelihoods.
The sugar industry has faced serious challenges over the past decade including droughts, increasing production costs, falling world sugar prices, and the introduction of a sugar tax. A major threat is weak trade protection against increasing sugar imports, which cost the local industry more than R2.2 billion in 2019 alone.
These challenges have threatened 21 000 small-scale growers, 65 000 direct jobs, 270 000 indirect jobs, and the one million people the industry supports.
This is why the Sugar Industry Value Chain Masterplan was developed by government, the sugar industry and other key stakeholders in order 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. SA Canegrowers is an active participant and fully supportive of the Sugarcane Industry Value Chain Masterplan.
SA Canegrowers Chairman Andrew Russell said: “We welcome the Shoprite Group’s efforts to achieve this target, including partnering with us on our Home Sweet Home 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.”
