Despite its large agricultural potential and its significant exports, South Africa exhibits a high discrepancy between the population’s demand and the local production for many food products. This gap must be filled by imports and the country has a large network of food importers and distributors.

An increasing number of companies are looking to export to Africa, as the continent is experiencing rapid development, but the risks and volatility of many of the continent’s regimes can prove to be daunting. An excellent start, in this case, is South Africa, a perfect entry point for the Sub-Saharan region, with a large urban population (60.4 million), strong Western ties and solid infrastructure.

The growing middle class and higher-income have also positively impacted South Africa’s imports, which are mainly vegetables, meat, and cereals (especially rice).

In the last years over 45% of South Africa’s total imports came from Asian countries. European trade partners supplied 31.5% of imports bought by South Africa, while about 12% worth originated from fellow African nations. North American exporters accounted for 7.6% of South Africa’s imports but here we can see a large increase, over 50% in the last years.

Around 2.3% of food imports are coming from Latin America (excluding Mexico) plus the Caribbean and 1.3% shipped from Oceania led by Australia.

South Africa’s top 5 food suppliers are China, United States, Argentina, Germany, United Kingdom.

Import of Cereals

In this category, South Africa’s main imports are wheat, rice, and corn. The increasing demand for wheat – more than 3 million tons – is rarely covered by the local production, which usually accounts for only half of that amount.

The Russian Federation was the leading supplier of wheat to South Africa with a share of 29%, followed by Germany, Romania, Czech Republic, and Ukraine, constituting a share value of 17%, 10.2%, 10.1%, and 7.6% respectively.

Corn is the country’s biggest locally-produced crop, being an exported product by South Africa, but the country is also importing. Turkey, India, and Italy were the major suppliers of maize starch.

Rice, also is a top imported product as it’s not produced locally. South Africa imported approx. 1.1 million tonnes of rice in 2022. The leading supplier was Thailand, followed by India, Pakistan, Vietnam and Brazil.

South Africa’s projected cereal imports for the 2023/2024 period are estimated to be around 2.7 million metric tons, primarily consisting of rice and wheat. This figure slightly surpasses the five-year average. Specifically, wheat imports are anticipated to reach approximately 1.7 million metric tons, marking an increase from the previous year due to the expected decrease in production in 2023.

Import of Meat

During 2022, South Africa recorded an estimated meat production of 3.5 million tons, while meat imports were approximately 475 thousand tons. When it comes to swine, South Africa imported 38.4% of swine products from Germany, followed by 24.9% from Spain and 10.9% from Brazil.

Even though the country was once considered a promising source for the world’s sugar supplies, it now relies on importing this product. Major suppliers for this product are Thailand, Brazil and France.

South African Food Retailers and Retail Trends

The South African retail food market is predominantly controlled by the top five companies: Shoprite Holdings, Pick n Pay Retailers, Spar Group, Massmart (owned by Walmart), and Woolworths Holdings. Collectively, they hold a substantial 80 percent share of total retail sales, while the remaining 20 percent primarily stems from the informal retail sector. In the year 2022, South Africa saw retail food sales reaching a significant $38 billion. Furthermore, South African imports of consumer-oriented agricultural products saw a rise from $3.1 billion in 2021 to $3.2 billion in 2022.

Key trends in the South African retail food industry encompass the continuous expansion of e-commerce and home delivery services, a persistent demand for healthier options in the fresh food and wellness categories, an increasing interest in plant-based and meat-alternative products, and a growing consumer appetite for halal offerings.

Tips for doing business in South Africa:

• South African food importers and distributors really appreciate well-known brands, the opportunities are better for already well established, globally known food brands
• Some of the “hot” categories that showed demand in the last years and increasing attention by food importers and distributors in South Africa – snack foods, ready meals, health foods and organic snacks, premium bottled water, energy drinks and soft drinks
• Once they managed to establish a presence in South Africa, the companies can start to slowly expand to neighboring countries like Namibia or Zimbabwe
• Meetings with importers can be more informal than in other Western countries, sometimes in locations such as coffee shops or restaurants and the dress code is not that strict. A good idea prior to a meeting is to always call before to make sure that all the details are clear
• As the tariffs and regulations change often, companies looking to start exporting here should read the latest developments on the International Trade Administration of South Africa website.

Three food importers from South Africa:

1. Rieses Food Imports
Address: Unit 1, Block A1, East Loop, Montague Park, Plattekloof Road, Montague Gardens, 7441, Cape Town
Phone: +27 (0)21 551 9037
Website: www.rfi.co.za

2. Aldoukan
Address: 39 La Rochelle Rd, Springfield, Johannesburg, 2190, South Africa
Phone: +27 71 422 1835
Website: www.aldoukan.co.za

3. Gluckman Trading
Address: Old Trafford No. 2 Isle Of Houghton
Phone: +27114841352
Website:  www.gluckmantrading.com

To get access to a list of more active food importers from South Africa, you can access one of the BestFoodImporters databases.