South Africa’s food system is dominated by big firms, leaving small businesses to supply localised and under-served markets, and provide rural employment. It needs to be inclusive and diverse.
Woolworths’ A$780 millon investment in new automated distribution centres is a sign of how much COVID-19 has changed the way we shop. It points what’s to come in the retail sector.
Shoppers line up in front of a Zara clothing store waiting for the opening after being closed for nearly two months in Montréal on May 25, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
The coronavirus pandemic is shaking a system that was pretty wobbly already.
South Africa’s Alexandra township in the foreground, where the majority live in squalor, and Sandton in the background, representing the most privileged
Shutterstock
Most consumers in South Africa aren’t able to fill up a trolley of groceries for their daily needs, let alone join the panic buying induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
An employee prepares items for a 2019 holiday sale at a Walmart in Las Vegas.
(AP Photo/John Locher)
We are addicted to consumption during these holidays, which leads to a massive amount of landfill waste. Giant retailers like Walmart could help the problem, but they haven’t.
The Furby craze was a big deal in the 1990s, just like Cabbage Patch Kids were in the 1980s and Hatchimals were this decade.
(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
If Australia follows international trends and allows supermarkets to open pharmacies, what are the effects on neighbouring pharmacies? And when does running a business mean health care suffers?
Interim Director, UWA Public Policy Institute; Associate Professor & Programme Co-ordinator (Masters of Public Policy), The University of Western Australia