Coca-Cola agreeing to be a loss leader in Checkers isn’t generosity... it’s desperation
Coca-Cola committed economic suicide when they forced spaza shops to sell their cool drinks at the recommended retail price & refused to allow spazas to stock Coca Cola fridges with any other cold drink brand.
The spazas margin disappeared and so did their loyalty.
And just like that Coca Cola cut off its own hand and killed their competitive advantage in distribution having a Coke “within arms reach”
Spaza customers have limited money. When Coke became too expensive they switched to Kingsley, Twizza and energy drinks it worked out well for the spaza shop making some profit while leaving change for the customers in their pocket
Alternative colas filled that gap so well that Twizza ended up being bought by PepsiCo for R2.1bn giving Coke’s biggest rival a gateway into the R900bn informal economy
Back to the Checkers customer…
Middle-income families are stretched.
Sugar tax has turned a 2L Coke into a treat instead of an everyday buy.
500ml Energy drinks started to undercut Coca-Cola 440ml buddies
GLP-1 and a move towards health and wellness keeps Coke bleeding.
Retailers now use cheap 2L Coke as the bait to get you through the door, knowing you’ll also grab higher-margin products on the way to the till
Shoprite is also under pressure (so this partnership works well) as they have to compete not only with other retailers who are desperate to steal their market share back but compete for the consumers’ wallet.
These type of “loss leader” specials are a popular strategy for retailers to increase footfall in the middle of the month but the consumers’ situation is so dire retailers have to get a share of the customers wallet before debit orders hit because after that there is nothing left to take
Thank you for the picture Ghostie. It gave us a clear look at how desperate the competitive environment has become for both retailers and FMCG in this stagnant economy
A few weeks ago, I watched from the sidelines as Gabby Agbonlahor & Villa fans questioned how Spurs could spend as they have inspite a terrible season.
A lot of people, Arsenal fans especially would have questioned why I took the time to document the legitimacy of the organic revenue growth of Spurs to spend what they have this summer given so I support & why I had zero sympathy for Villa & the likes of Newcastle who both spent too much way too quickly after being promoted whilst gambling on their revenue growth catching up to sustain their heavy spending.
I did so knowing those smaller clubs would seemingly question Arsenal’s ability to spend as if it didn’t come at the cost of sacrifice.
I did so knowing who the real cheats are and who really should be held to account.
The prem needs to clamp down on Chelsea and to pass a guilty verdict on City for their rule breaches before this gets out of hand because those 2 clubs are taking the league & those in it for a ride whilst making the likes of Villa & Newcastle think either is doing them a favour when neither of them are.
But ��viva Garnarcho” right? 😭🤷🏽♂️☠️
Chris Rock says he missed out on $30 MILLION because Eddie Murphy walked downstairs.
"I love Eddie. This is how crazy Eddie can be."
"Eddie has the recording studio in his house. So all he has to do is go downstairs to do Donkey."
"He would make them wait for months at a time."
"At least twice, they negotiated deals with me to play Donkey."
"And then Eddie just went downstairs."
"And I'm out of $30 million... just because Eddie went downstairs."
"I'm on my way to the studio thinking, 'Yeah, I'm Donkey.'"
"Oh... Eddie went downstairs."
"He's in his pajamas doing Donkey right now."
When preparing for a FIFA World Cup, you cannot leave anything to chance.
You need a clear plan: how you will prepare, where you will prepare, why you are making certain decisions, and when each step needs to happen. Success at the highest level is built long before the tournament begins.
The same principle applies to football development.
If we want to create the players and leaders of tomorrow, we must be intentional today. We need better pathways, better coaching, better opportunities, and a long-term vision for our youth.
The future of South African football will not be built overnight. It will be built through planning, investment, and development.
🎥 Watch the full episode now and discover why planning is the foundation of every successful football project, from preparing for a World Cup to developing the next generation of players.
https://t.co/BR5IKAOxDd
#ChangingTheGame #smashsports #Fifaworldcup2026
Real Madrid hasn't won a major trophy in two years. It just became the highest-earning sports team in history anyway, beating the Dallas Cowboys. The man behind it isn't a coach or a player. He builds skyscrapers for a living, and he doesn't even own the club.
His name is Florentino Pérez, and he runs the biggest construction company in Spain, one of the largest anywhere. Real Madrid belongs to its fans, about 90,000 of them, who vote every few years on who runs the place. This Sunday they picked him again. It was the first time in twenty years that anyone even ran against him, and he'll be in charge until 2030.
His smartest move had nothing to do with football. When he took over in 2000, the club was buried under close to 300 million euros of debt. So he talked the city into letting developers build office towers on Real Madrid's old training ground. The land sold, four skyscrapers went up that still stand on the Madrid skyline, and the debt was gone almost overnight, with plenty left to start buying the best players alive. (Years later the EU looked into whether the city had overpaid on purpose to bail the club out. Nothing came of it.)
Then came the players fans still argue about, one global superstar nearly every summer: Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, Beckham. Pérez never pretended it was only about football. When his marketing chief heard Manchester United would sell Beckham for about 35 million euros, he called Pérez yelling that it was a steal. United had priced a footballer. Madrid was buying a worldwide brand it figured was worth ten times more in shirts and sponsorship deals. Within a year of signing him, Madrid had passed United as the most profitable club on earth. Pérez wanted his club to run like Ferrari, a name so strong the money keeps coming whether you win on Saturday or not.
The new stadium is the same idea in concrete. He spent 1.3 billion euros rebuilding it over one thing that bugged him: a football ground hosts maybe 25 games a year and sits dark the other 340 days. His version barely sleeps. It hosts concerts and tours now, and last November it held an American football game. The pitch even slides underground so the place can be rented out without wrecking the grass. Running flat out, it's built to bring in close to a million euros a day.
He has still won plenty on the field, seven Champions League titles across his two spells, from Zidane's famous volley in 2002 to the trophies in 2022 and 2024. But the number that explains him best is simpler. Last year, with nothing big to show for it on the pitch, the club's value still climbed 41 percent. So this week 90,000 fans gave him four more years, and he still doesn't own a single share of the club he turned into the highest-earning team in world sport.
🚨 Robert Lewandowski on Barça asking him not to score last year to avoid paying bonuses to Bayern: “I don’t really want to talk about. I have too much respect for Barcelona and for the people who work there. I was aware of the situation the club was in. There were many other situations where you had to sacrifice something personally for the good of the club”.
“In short, it was about a bonus that would have to be paid depending on the number of goals I scored. And at that time, Barcelona was looking for every single euro. The bonus wasn’t a small amount. For me personally, it wouldn’t have changed anything, so I didn’t really have a problem with it”.
“Did I listen to them? Well… it stays in your head. It stays there, even if it’s just a small percentage, but it was enough that once I actually hesitated—whether to score a goal or not. And at the highest level of football, that’s enough”.
“Sometimes those 5%, even 3%, decide whether you win or whether you score”, told @BogRymanowski.
🎙️ Hugo Broos on the Salah penalty vs Mudau:
"Even Mo Salah said to me after the game; ‘I was surprised it was a penalty’. It was ridiculous, really ridiculous."
#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 | #10BetBafana
“I am an African. I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land.” ~ Thabo Mbeki #WakeUpEverybody✊🏿
Laurent Mekies, the new Red Bull team principal, has revealed that he has asked for Yuki Tsunoda's car to also be equipped with the new features before qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, taking reserve parts for Verstappen from the stockpile. #BelgianGP#RedBullRacing#F1
Jack Dorsey just declared war on Whatsapp.
He launched a messaging app that works without internet, phone number or Zukerberg.
And the way it delivers messages is straight-up mind-bending... or is it?
Here���s everything you need to know: