Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) published a preliminary monthly report on the food and beverage industry, which showed an 8.4% year-on-year growth in total revenue at current prices for June 2026.
According to the report, takeaway food and fast-food establishments were the locomotive of sector growth in the second quarter of this year. The report analyzes revenue growth rates both at constant 2019 prices (real figures) and at current prices.
Stats SA reported that in June 2026, food and beverage revenue in real terms (constant 2019 prices) increased by 1.0% compared to June 2025. However, compared to May 2026, seasonally adjusted revenue decreased by 1.7%, following monthly changes of 3.2% in May 2026 and -3.7% in April 2026.
The total industry revenue at current prices reached 9,277 billion rand in June 2026, which is higher than the 8,555 billion rand recorded in June 2025. An analysis of business activity for the second quarter (April – June 2026) compared to the same period in 2025 revealed the following trends:
- Takeaway food and fast-food establishments demonstrated a growth of 8.3% at current prices (from 10,879 billion to 11,787 billion rand), contributing 3.4 percentage points to the overall industry growth.
- Restaurants and cafes generated revenue of 13,041 billion rand, reflecting an annual increase of 4.5% and adding 2.1 percentage points.
- Catering services showed a growth of 4.5%, reaching 3,703 billion rand, which increased the overall figure by 0.6 percentage points.
Despite the nominal growth driven by current prices, the sector faced a slight contraction in real terms in the second quarter. When calculated at constant 2019 prices, total food and beverage revenue decreased by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the second quarter of 2025.
Stats SA emphasized that the main factor in this decline was restaurants and cafes, which contracted by 1.9% and contributed a negative impact of -0.9 percentage points. During the same period, the real revenue of takeaway food and fast-food establishments slightly increased by 0.8%, while catering services declined by 1.1%.
In June 2026, food sales accounted for the overwhelming majority of revenue across the entire industry—8,201 billion rand (at current prices), followed by bar sales at 883.8 million rand and other revenue of 191.7 million rand. Stats SA noted that year-on-year food sales grew by 10.5% at current prices for June, while bar sales decreased by 7.1%. The preliminary data collection rate for the June 2026 survey was 80.6%.