South Africa: Food Processing Ingredients

South Africa’s well-developed food processing sector has been under pressure since the March 2020 national lockdown due to COVID-19, which imposed many restrictions on the food industry. The sector, which serves as a gateway to Sub-Saharan African markets, has been impacted on multiple fronts including; labor shortages due to work stoppages, limited staff to observe social distancing, sporadic bans on alcohol sales, strict curfews, closures of land border posts, and a reduction in spending on restaurants and hotels. Despite the pandemic challenges, Stats SA reported that overall manufacturing production increased by 1.8 percent in December 2020 compared to December 2019, in which food and beverage processing contributed 6.4 percent.