Consumers continue to boycott their favourite products as high food prices bite: Competition Commission

JOHANNESBURG - The Competition Commission said consumers continue to boycott some of their favourites on the shelves as high food prices bite.

The commission released the latest edition of the Essential Food Pricing Monitoring Report on Friday.

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The watchdog has been monitoring the price of essential foods since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

It said canned pilchards remain popular as households switch to alternative sources of protein.

Economist at the Competition Commission, Kagiso Zwane, said that the results of the largest canned pilchards producer, Oceana, showed increased profitability in the canned foods and fishmeal business for the six months ending in March.

"The meat to canned pilchards example is an example of switching away from a product in response to higher prices, but the other way is looking for more affordable brands or going to the private label brands for your existing products, for example going from Lucky Star pilchards to the no-name brand."