Today's Headlines, Mon 7 Sep 2026: Franchise Hub

DataShoprite grew merchandise sales 7.2% to R270.8bn in the 52 weeks to 28 June, adding R18.1bn. Internal selling price inflation in Supermarkets RSA averaged 0.8% against Stats SA food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation of 3.9% over the same year. It took share by raising prices at a fifth of the market rate, and that is the number shaping what your customer thinks food should cost before they reach your counter. (Shoprite Holdings, results for the 52 weeks ended 28 June 2026)

TrendThe Competition Commission's third Cost of Living Report puts cumulative electricity inflation at about 100.5% between January 2020 and July 2026, against roughly 36% for prices overall. Water reached about 85% on the same basis. In the year to July, electricity rose 8.1% and water 10.1% against CPI of 4.3%. Six years of your two least avoidable utilities running at close to three times headline is not a line any menu re-engineering recovers. (Competition Commission, Cost of Living Report, August 2026)

OpeningShoprite opened 262 new stores in South Africa over the year, and Checkers Sixty60 grew 34.5% to R25.5bn, more than a third of the group's entire sales growth. Convenience is being built out at a pace no franchise network is matching, and most of that growth arrived by delivery rather than through a door. (Shoprite Holdings, results for the 52 weeks ended 28 June 2026)

DealShoprite has signed an agreement to buy Vida e Caffè, about 400 corporate and franchise outlets, and it is subject to regulatory approval rather than done. It separately took a majority stake in payments business R&A Cellular, effective in August, and that one has closed. Hold the difference in mind: one is a completed transaction, the other is an intention with a regulator still to clear it. (Shoprite Holdings; TimesLIVE)

WatchThe Commission that must investigate Vida before it clears is the same one that has just flagged producer-to-retail spreads at unprecedented highs in maize meal, brown bread and sunflower oil. Retail maize meal fell from R41.90 to R39.79 between January and June while producer prices held firm. A deal this size goes to the Tribunal on the Commission's recommendation, so watch what conditions attach when a grocer of this size is cleared to own a food franchisor. (Competition Commission, Cost of Living Report, August 2026)

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Shoprite raised its own prices 0.8% while food ran 3.9%, then signed for a coffee franchisor

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