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29 November 2022
Husband-and-wife-owned small business Browns Foods was among a host of innovative and outstanding suppliers honoured by the Shoprite Group at its annual Supplier of the Year Awards.
Held this past weekend following a three-year hiatus, the awards recognise the valuable contribution suppliers make to the success of the Group.
Finalists across 10 categories were evaluated on criteria such as the extent to which they had contributed towards the retailer’s growth and improved earnings, their stockholding and service levels, the efficiency of their administration processes, and the manner in which they provide support at store level.
The 2022 winners in each category are:
- Groceries: Futurelife
- Health & Beauty: Colgate-Palmolive Company
- Perishables: Eskort
- Beverages/Liquor & Wine: South African Breweries
- SMME (Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises): Browns Foods
- Fruit & Vegetables: Wildeklawer
- Butcheries: Malu Pork
- Sustainability: Infection Protection Products
- Convenient Food & Private Labels: Feinschmecker Deli Meats
- General Merchandise: Duracell
Mabel Akinlabi from Brown Foods, winner in the SMME category with the winner of the Sustainability category, Annette Devenish from Infection Protection Products, at the Group's 2022 Supplier of the Year Awards.
In South Africa, the Group spent R18.7 billion on black owned suppliers in the past financial year, with R12.6 billion allocated to black women-owned suppliers, up from R8.5 billion in 2021.
“Myself and my husband, who is now COO, approached the Shoprite Group with basically a dream.”
- Mabel Akinlabi, co-founder of Brown Foods
“I am a testament of what happens when you put your money where your mouth is and take innovation seriously. We get to stand on the shoulders of a giant and we are grateful for the opportunity.”