Walking down a township shop on a Saturday morning, you still see the same handful of familiar bottles and packets crowding the shelves, Coca-Cola, Sunlight, Albany, Sasko and Clover dominate the eye-level space. For the owner of a small food-processing plant, that picture is both a reminder of market concentration and a clue to where the next opportunity might lie.
According to the Brand Footprint 2026 analysis from Worldpanel by Numerator, South African households spent 3.3% more on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in 2025, reversing a 2.4% drop in 2024. The recovery in spending is real, but the data show that the benefits are not being shared equally across brands.
Worldpanel measures Consumer Reach Points (CRPs), a count of how many households choose a brand and how often they do so. In 2025, households made roughly 3.9 billion brand choices, a scale that underlines how competitive the market is. Local and regional brands captured 61% of the CRPs among the top 100 most chosen FMCG brands, indicating that South African shoppers still favour home-grown products over imported alternatives.
What the numbers mean for small and medium FMCG producers
Nick Barrett, country manager of Worldpanel by Numerator South Africa, told Bizcommunity that the shift in spending “is an important shift for South Africa’s FMCG market. Spending has returned to growth, but the benefits are not being shared equally across brands.” For a small-scale manufacturer, the uneven distribution of growth translates into two clear strategic choices.
First, the data show that 78% of the top 100 brands are classified as large or super brands, reaching more than 30% of households and accounting for 94% of total CRPs. Yet almost half (46%) of those brands still reach fewer than half of South African households. That gap suggests room for medium-size and niche brands to expand their household penetration, a classic growth lever for SMEs that can’t afford massive advertising spend.
Second, the analysis found that brands which grew their CRPs by more than 2.5% in 2025 did so by combining higher penetration with increased purchase frequency. In plain terms, the most successful brands are not just getting more people to try them; they are also giving existing buyers a reason to buy again, whether through new product formats, promotional packs, or stronger distribution in informal retail channels.
For an entrepreneur deciding whether to launch a new snack line or to invest in a larger production run, the takeaway is simple: reach and frequency must be balanced. A small brand that only sells to a loyal niche may see flat sales, while a slightly larger brand that expands into new townships and encourages repeat purchases can capture a meaningful slice of the growing spend.
Among the top five most chosen brands, Coca-Cola led with 180 million CRPs, followed by Sunlight (138.4 million), Albany (128.3 million), Sasko (127.7 million) and Clover (125.1 million). Albany moved up two positions to third place, while Sasko and Clover each slipped one rank. The reshuffle shows that even well-established brands can gain or lose ground quickly, reinforcing the idea that market share is fluid and not guaranteed by size alone.
What does this mean for the everyday SME owner? If you are already supplying a national retailer, the data suggest you should audit two metrics: the percentage of households that ever buy your product (penetration) and the average number of purchases per household per year (frequency). Improving either metric can push you into the 2.5% growth band that the Worldpanel report highlights.
Practical steps include:
- Targeting under-served retail formats such as informal shops, spaza stores and mobile vendors, where many households still shop.
- Introducing smaller pack sizes or value-added bundles that encourage trial without a large upfront cost.
- Leveraging local festivals, community events and social media to keep the brand top-of-mind, thereby nudging repeat purchases.
These tactics align with Barrett’s observation that “sustainable growth comes from remaining relevant enough to attract more households while giving existing buyers more reasons to choose the brand again.”
While the overall market is on an upswing, the fact that 51% of the top 100 brands saw a decline in CRPs reminds us that growth is not automatic. Companies that rely solely on scale, the sheer number of stores they are in, risk being left behind if they do not also focus on why shoppers return.
For SMEs, the current environment offers a rare window: consumer spending is rising, competition is intense, but the market is still receptive to brands that can prove relevance at the household level. The challenge is to translate that relevance into measurable reach and frequency, a task that will require data-driven marketing, agile distribution and, often, a willingness to experiment with new product formats.
In a sector where the top five brands together command just under half of all consumer choices, there is still ample room for smaller players to carve out a niche. The next wave of growth may well belong to those who can blend local flavour with a distribution strategy that gets their product into more homes, and then keep those homes buying again.
For entrepreneurs looking to tap into the FMCG rebound, the message is clear: understand the balance between household reach and purchase frequency, and design your growth plan around both.
Read more about market trends in the SME & Entrepreneurship section.
