After the Bell: To eat out or eat in — people with a taste for spending is growing in SA

A couple of months ago, after we’d been at a friend’s place on a Saturday evening, my family and I were in the car on the way home. Out of nowhere someone suggested that we have a family meal at a restaurant. The surprise was almost physical.

I had simply forgotten what it was like to take our children out, sit across a table from them, move all of the green and gold items out of the way and just talk.

And order food someone else had made.

Since I am at the stage of life where my son eats about twice as much as I do (while being about half the weight) it has not really been financially practical to go out for some years.

It was one of the best nights we have had as a family in a long time. 

So much so that when we were alone again, my wife and I started our next conversation with: “Sod the cost, we must do that again.”

I had almost written off eating out as a family. It has just become so expensive.

It is not only you and I who feel this way.

A few weeks ago we had two people, much younger than me, come to stay with us from the UK. One is related to us and they both live in London. They had both planned to order a delivery at our place while they were here. I found this quite weird. Could it really be that the curry in eastern Randburg has a certain vogue in northern Wimbledon? Was there an Insta angle to this I was (obviously) missing?

No, they said, it’s because ordering food in the UK has just become too expensive, so while they were here they planned to forget that they’re pound-poor.

Now, they both have good jobs, they’re able to pay rent and do things, they are productive. Yet they look forward to being in Joburg just so they can order in.

Interestingly, the results of the companies involved in this give you a completely different picture.

A few weeks ago the Spur Corporation explained in its results that while its annual “customer count numbers remain unchanged from the previous year, pleasingly average-spend-per-head grew above menu-price inflation”.

In other words, the same number of people are going to Spur (and the group’s other outlets), but they are spending more.

According to the Discovery Visa Spend Trend, spending on takeouts and restaurant meals jumped 12% in 2024, outpacing grocery spend growth, which rose 8%. 

Maybe it’s the green-and-gold bunting, or perhaps their TVs are bigger, or it could be that Spur’s reporting period was before the Ellis Park game, but something is working for them.

And it’s not just one isolated chain in Mzansi.

Bidcorp, which is listed on the JSE but provides products to restaurants around the world (but not North America), also had pretty good results. Its earnings were up by 6.8% in constant currency terms.

When last did you dine out? Join the conversation on Daily Maverick Connect.

Demand for takeaways is growing

Now, there are times when you have no choice but to eat in a restaurant or order in.

There was the time I was at home alone with Covid and the only way to eat properly was to ask a man on a motorbike to bring a pizza. In one of those wonderfully South African moments, as the delivery man was carefully placing the box under my gate, he saw me peeping through the curtain. He gave me what I fondly remember as a reassuring wave, before using the gradient of the driveway to start his bike and head off for pastures healthier.

On the receipt, in large unmissable, handwritten koki, was the message: “Place under gate – customer has Covid.” 

The only other time I can remember being “forced” to eat out usually involved an airport and a Mango flight.

It follows (based on the above company results) that demand for what restaurants produce, the food that is more than food but also an experience, is clearly healthy.

Now, if you look at the difference in prices between making your supper at home and going out, the value that people are getting must be huge. It means that you are happy to spend the money.

Strangely, I wonder if the price for food that is delivered might start to come down, both for my house guest and for you and me – because while the science of delivery is moving quickly, there is still some way to go.

This is why Prosus is so interesting to watch. They’re basically buying up all the delivery companies they can and then trying to leverage what works.

So don’t be surprised to hear that they will probably sell advertising on their delivery app for you to look at while you are checking on your order. 

The science of running a restaurant chain is also changing – it’s not just about green and gold bunting, but about getting you in and keeping you there. And yes, they’re using AI to do it.

The basic business model of selling prepared food hasn’t changed in thousands of years. But strangely, it’s still getting better.

And more expensive. DM