The gap between what South African women have available to spend and what it actually costs to feed their families has become increasingly difficult to ignore.
In July, feeding just one child a basic nutritious diet cost R980.66. The Child Support Grant, relied on by millions of South African mothers, provides R580 a month. That leaves a shortfall of R400.66 per child, every month, before any other household expenses are taken into account.
It is a gap that falls disproportionately on women. Women head 42.6% of South African households, while research consistently shows that when food runs short, they are often the first to eat less or skip meals altogether so their children can eat.
This Women’s Month, local surplus-food marketplace Refreshi is drawing attention to that gap and to one practical way households can make limited food budgets stretch further. Every day, quality food is discounted by retailers because it needs to be sold within a certain timeframe. Too much of it is still discarded before it reaches households that could use it.
A gap that inflation figures don’t capture
“South Africa’s food inflation has been easing and was down to 1.6% in June from 2.9% in April, but slower price growth has done little to help households that have already been priced out,” says Jakob Holbak, Founder and CEO of Refreshi.
“According to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group (PMBEJD), the average household food basket cost R5,530.52 in July, up R87.81 year-on-year. A woman working full-time on the national minimum wage takes home just R4,836.80 a month. That means the cost of food alone is R693.72 more than her entire monthly wage, before rent, electricity, transport, school fees or any other expenses are considered.”
The result is a structural nutrition gap. Research shows that low-income families underspend on basic food needs by at least 17% a month, equivalent to R1,155 worth of food that simply never makes it into the trolley.
That helps explain why easing food inflation has provided so little relief at household level. Prices may be increasing more slowly, but they are rising from a base that many households, particularly those headed by women, already cannot afford.
Women carry that pressure disproportionately. The State of Household Food Insecurity in South Africa 2026 Report, researched by the University of Cape Town’s Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) for FoodForward SA, found that one in ten female-headed households is severely food insecure, almost double the rate recorded among male-headed households.
In 61% of surveyed households, women reported skipping meals so their children could eat. Women, the report notes, “often reduce intake first and carry the emotional labour of managing scarcity.”
PMBEJD’s Household Affordability Index, informed by the lived experiences of women shoppers across the country, adds another dimension, noting that “women are smart and savvy shoppers, and shop around for bargains.”
But there is a point at which even the smartest shopping cannot make the numbers work. When the money runs out, families are no longer choosing between brands or searching for better deals. Food simply comes out of the trolley.
The food is already there
Refreshi argues that part of the solution is already sitting on South African shelves.
FoodForward SA Managing Director Andy Du Plessis estimates that South Africa wastes around 10 million tonnes of food each year. At the launch of the Food Insecurity Report, Wits Business School’s Ravi Pillay captured the contradiction simply: “We have this perverse situation in South Africa where we have food, but it cannot go to those who need it.”
Refreshi was built around that disconnect.
The local startup’s app focuses on three outcomes: helping consumers spend less on food, enabling food businesses to recover revenue from surplus stock, and reducing the amount of quality food that goes to waste.
Importantly, the food offered through the platform is neither damaged nor expired. It is surplus stock from participating businesses that needs to be sold within its appropriate consumption period.
Since launching in March 2025, Refreshi has helped South African consumers save R12.5 million on their grocery bills, while returning R10 million in revenue to participating stores on stock that may otherwise have gone unsold and been discarded.
“So much of that responsibility sits with women”
Maxine Eady first discovered Refreshi as a customer. For two years, she had walked past a bakery in Claremont, Cape Town, without going inside. Then she reserved a discounted bag of baked goods through the Refreshi app.
That first purchase introduced her to a different way of shopping and, as she began using the platform more regularly, helped her almost halve her monthly grocery bill.
Inspired by what she experienced as a customer, Eady later applied for a job at Refreshi and now works at the startup full-time.
“It was only afterwards that I came to understand that the app wasn’t just about getting a great deal. It was a tool that could help women stretch their budgets and save money, while preventing good food from being wasted. I came to love what the app stood for,” she says.
Refreshi has since become part of her weekly shop.
“For me, it’s about easing my monthly grocery bill, but it’s also about saving time and energy. Women are so often the ones buying groceries, planning meals and figuring out how to stretch a limited budget while making sure as little as possible goes to waste.
“Bread, school lunches, supper and snacks all add up, and so much of that responsibility sits with women in our country.”
How it works
Shoppers use the Refreshi app to reserve discounted “Surprise Bags” containing surplus food from participating businesses and collect them directly from the store.
Participating outlets include SPAR, OK MiniMark, King Pie, Vovo Telo, Bootlegger, vida e caffè and Ou Meul, among others.
The Refreshi app is available on iOS and Android across South Africa.
