Woolworths puts food at the centre as group turnover reaches R84,5 billion
Food grew 5,7% and Woolies Dash 19,6%, but the fashion and home division slowed to 2,6% in the second half, and the group is now reorienting around the business that best represents it.
Woolworths has named its food business as the strongest competitive advantage in the group and is reorienting the retailer around it, after annual results for the 52 weeks to 28 June 2026 showed food growing ahead of the rest of the portfolio. As CapeTown ETC reported on 18 September, the group is sharpening that focus while it works to improve the divisions that are not keeping pace.
The numbers behind the decision are in the results. Woolworths Food delivered 5,7% growth in turnover and concession sales for the year, with comparable-store sales up 3,7%. Group turnover and concession sales rose 4,3% to R84,5 billion, and headline earnings per share increased 5,3% to 282,3 cents.
CEO Sam Ngumeni said the performance reflected the resilience of the portfolio but was not good enough.
“While our results reflect the resilience of our portfolio and the strength of Woolworths Food, it is not where we want to be,” he said.
He said the group was clear on what had to change.
“We are clear on the opportunities and the actions required to unlock greater value, and we are moving decisively to improve performance across the Group.”
Where the growth is coming from
The gap between food and the rest of the group is the reason for the shift. Fashion, Beauty and Home recorded 4,4% growth for the full year, but second-half growth slowed to 2,6% as consumer demand weakened and promotional activity increased. Food, by contrast, kept growing, and it is pulling online sales with it. Woolies Dash revenue rose 19,6%, and online sales accounted for 7,3% of South African food sales during the financial year.
Ngumeni tied the strategy to what the brand is known for.
“Woolies always stood for quality, innovation, and sustainability. At a Woolworths brand level, the one part of our business that best represents that is food.”
That is the logic of the reorientation. Food becomes the benchmark the rest of the group is measured against, while the weaker businesses are worked on rather than carried.
The competitor setting the value bar
The competitive picture is sharpening at the same time. Shoprite’s annual sales rose 7,2% to R270,8 billion, with its South African supermarket business growing 7,1%. Shoprite said shoppers were increasingly seeking value, and it held selling-price inflation at 0,8%, below South Africa’s 3,9% food inflation rate.
For South African households, that gap is the story behind the strategy. Consumers under pressure from living costs are shopping for essentials and comparing prices harder than they did three years ago. A premium food offer grows when it holds its quality position, and a value offer grows when it holds the price line. Both retailers are now reading the same shopper and writing different answers.
Woolworths is not abandoning the premium end. It is arguing that food is where that reputation is strongest and most defensible, and that the rest of the group should learn from it rather than dilute it.
What shoppers will notice
The practical effects will show up in stores before they show up in strategy documents. A group that puts food at its centre tends to invest there first, in range, in availability and in the online and delivery channels that are growing fastest. Woolies Dash’s 19,6% revenue growth and a 7,3% online share of South African food sales are the clearest signals of where the demand is moving, and they are the numbers to watch in the next set of results.
The pressure sits on the other side of the business. Fashion, Beauty and Home has to improve in a market where shoppers are buying fewer discretionary items and waiting for promotions. That division’s second-half slowdown to 2,6% is the number that explains why the group is reorganising around food now rather than later.
Woolworths has not put a date on the next trading update. The group’s next scheduled results, covering the first half of the new financial year, will be the first real test of whether the food-led strategy is lifting the rest of the portfolio or simply describing it.
Source: CapeTown ETC, Woolworths reshapes strategy around Food as retail pressure mounts.
