South Africa’s food and beverage industry recorded modest year-on-year growth in June 2026, although weaker quarterly performance points to continued pressure on consumer spending and hospitality businesses.
Measured in real terms at constant 2019 prices, food and beverages income increased by 1.0% in June 2026 compared with June 2025, according to the latest data.
The monthly improvement, however, was accompanied by a decline in seasonally adjusted income. Food and beverages income fell by 1.7% in June compared with May 2026, following month-on-month growth of 3.2% in May and a 3.7% decline in April.
The figures highlight the uneven trading environment facing food and beverage businesses, with monthly gains failing to translate into broader quarterly growth.
Restaurants remain under pressure
For the second quarter of 2026, food and beverages income decreased by 0.7% compared with the second quarter of 2025.
Restaurants and coffee shops were the largest contributor to the decline, with income falling 1.9% year on year and contributing -0.9 of a percentage point to the overall decrease.
The weakness was even more pronounced when comparing the latest quarter with the previous three months. Seasonally adjusted food and beverages income decreased by 2.0% in Q2 2026 compared with Q1 2026, with restaurants and coffee shops again the main contributor.
Income in the category declined 2.3% quarter on quarter, contributing -1.1 percentage points to the overall quarterly decline.
Consumer spending remains a key pressure point
The latest numbers suggest that while consumers continue to spend across the food and beverage sector, trading conditions remain challenging for businesses reliant on discretionary spending.
For restaurants and coffee shops in particular, the quarterly declines point to continued sensitivity around affordability, frequency of visits and consumers' choices between eating out and other forms of food consumption.
The June year-on-year increase provides some positive momentum, but the month-on-month and quarterly figures indicate that the sector has yet to establish a sustained growth trajectory.
For operators, the focus is likely to remain on value, customer retention and managing costs while navigating changing consumer spending patterns.
The performance also reinforces the importance of closely tracking both headline growth and underlying trends: despite food and beverages income rising 1.0% year on year in June, the broader second-quarter picture remained negative, led by continued weakness among restaurants and coffee shops.
