Product innovation

Management

We prioritise health and nutrition in our innovation programme to drive growth across existing brand portfolios and explore entirely new product categories. In response to South Africa’s constrained economic environment and to address nutrition inequality, we are increasing our focus on affordability and value. Our goal is to democratise access to basic nutritional needs by closing the nutrient gap and offering a wide range of affordable options. The immediate focus with this new strategy from 2024 is to fortify and scale our best-selling products, supported by strategic partnerships.

Our innovation efforts are centred on new product development, with health and nutrition as a key pillar. We have developed an agile innovation process that enables an iterative approach to creating fit-for-purpose solutions. This includes updated product-design standards, a “health and nutrition by design” framework, and a product enrichment decision toolkit. Our process includes rigorous checks for nutritional, regulatory and legislative compliance, ensuring adherence to labelling standards and responsible marketing principles (see here), while accelerating product quality and commercial value.

Performance

In 2024, we launched KOO Dry Pulses, highlighting the importance of high fibre for gut health, and introduced Ace Baby in spoutless pouches as an affordable, maize-based healthy option for infants. We continued to scale the Jungle master brand, expanding into new formats such as flakes and ready-to-drink options, with a focus on gaining market traction for Jungle Flakes.