Shoprite has been showing the power of R5 since 2016, the group says. Through their R5 campaign, the supermarket group shows how customers can buy food and other essentials for that amount.
Over 10-million South African adults and almost 3-million children experience hunger each week in South Africa according to statistics. Some 2.5 million adults and 600 000 children experience hunger almost every day. These are the hard realities of challenging economic times, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The group says this has made it a daily struggle for many in South Africa to put food on the table and buy the most essential goods.
Through their R5 campaign, Shoprite says they have stepped up to help South Africans in need by showing the power of a R5 coin to bring dignity and comfort. The group says that millions of customers have benefitted from the R5 savings.
The first products launched in 2016 with subsidised bread, and has been expanded to include deli meals and sanitary pads, all of which can be bought for R5.
This has never been more necessary than now, with South Africa’s unemployment rate having risen to 34.3% as the economy has contracted during the almost two years of the pandemic.
That is why the price of a 600g loaf of brown bread at Shoprite has remained just R5 since April 2016. In the last three years alone, the retailer has sold more than 200 million subsidised loaves.
Shoprite launched its R5 deli meals in the middle of 2017, to provide nutritious, affordable, hot food. In the last financial year, the supermarket chain sold 228,496 meals. Buying a R5 packet of Shoprite Ritebrand soup has seen over 900,000 meals provided via the Lunchbox Fund since 2019.
Millions of packs of R5 sanitary pads, proudly made in South Africa, have been bought since November 2020, allowing menstruators the basic human right of living with dignity.
After almost two years of a pandemic that has changed so much and offered so many financial challenges to South Africa’s communities, Shoprite is focused on ensuring that those who need help get it. “The power of R5 and the basket of goods it provides is just one proof point of that,” the group said. “Shoprite is always looking for ways to improve its offerings and provide goods that even our hard-hit customers can afford will remain a priority,” the group said.
