- Through the R5 campaign launched in 2016, the Shoprite group makes it possible for customers to buy food and other essentials.
- For just R5 an item, customers can get a loaf of bread, a packet of sanitary pads, a packet of soup, and deli meals.
- The initiative also enables customers affordable basic banking transactions with a withdrawal fee of only R5.
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With the Covid-19 pandemic causing a job-loss bloodbath and unemployment being at an all-time high, Shoprite makes it easy for those less fortunate to access basic needs such food and toiletries for just R5.
The aim of the R5 campaign, launched in 2016, is to bring dignity and comfort to those who are in need by ensuring that they can afford to eat and have basic necessities.
Bread
The Shoprite Group started the R5 campaign by subsidising its 600g in-house bakery bread and has ensured that the price has remained at R4.99 since April 2016.
"Shoprite will continue to ensure that anybody with as little as R5 in their pockets can buy something to eat at our supermarkets," said Shoprite's Group Sustainability Manager Sanjeev Raghubir.
The retailer has over the years sold more than 266 million loaves of bread nationwide, and inflation has not affected the price.
Deli meals
In 2017, Shoprite expanded the initiative by including deli meals for as little as R5. This, according to the group, helps customers gain access to nutritious, affordable, hot food. In the last financial year alone the supermarket chain sold 228,496 meals to customers.
Soup
The retailer also sells individual packets of Shoprite Ritebrand soup for R5. Since 2019 more than 900,000 meals have been provided through the Lunchbox Fund, a project dedicated to helping vulnerable and food-insecure children in South Africa get the education they desperately need to build a life free of poverty.
Sanitary pads
Shoprite also offers R5 sanitary pads for women and girls. One packet of the product, which is manufactured locally, contains eight individually wrapped maxi pads and can be found at Shoprite stores and Usave supermarkets.
Through the Shoprite Money Market Account, the retailer allows customers to access basic transactional banking activities such as withdrawals for only R5.
"After almost two years of a pandemic that has changed so much and offered so many financial challenges to South Africa's communities, Shoprite is focused on ensuring that those who need help get it. The power of R5 and the basket of goods it provides is just one proof point of that," said Shoprite.
