The Lighthouse team regularly walks the streets of informal settlements performing research into informal sectors. This market is continually evolving as the economic realities facing millions of consumers shift over time. The team recently observed the large growth within South Africa’s street food market.
The ‘Kota and Chips’ market is a street food category that is estimated to have grown to +R10bn. Its an affordable meal served on street corners with the cooking and preparation done in a back-room or on the street itself. A half loaf of bread with a Russian sausage, polony, cheese slice and chips sells typically for ~R25.
We’ve also seen the rise of other informal street food offerings. These include chicken wings, chicken feet served with a variety of hot and mild sauces. The typical price is R5 – R10 per serving. Other street food meals include ‘Skop’, ‘Amaplati’, ‘Sishebo’ and ‘Mogoda’. Recent estimates are that there are over 50 000 informal street food outlets in South Africa employing over 200 000 people.
Street food is a growing sector that presents exciting opportunities for food manufacturers and the hospitality industry as a whole – we need to be embrace the informal nature and unique consumer occasions that it satisfies.
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