Johannesburg - Braais are the most popular meal at Christmas for South Africans, new research by Pick n Pay has discovered.
The independent survey conducted with more than 1 000 of the retail giant’s consumers found that 41% of the respondents mentioned meat as being an integral part of their Christmas celebrations.
This was followed by salad at 23%, drinks (19%), chicken (17%), alcohol (13%), braai (11%) and wine at 11%.
The study also found that South African consumers are starting to get excited about festive celebrations again after two years of lockdown restrictions, with almost half saying they will be planning a bigger celebration since last year.
This is as 48% said they would be going bigger with their planning, up from 23% in 2021 and just 8% in 2020 – a time the country was in the thick of Covid-19.
“It was a hard two years for South Africans during the pandemic – for a multitude of reasons – so it is very positive to see customers excited to spend time with family and friends, and plan festive get-togethers again,” Andrew Mills, the group executive of marketing at Pick n Pay, said.
The survey also showed that many would be prioritising their budgets to accommodate celebrations, with 47% saying they will stay at home, the same as last year.
But the survey did show travel slowly picking up again, with 40% saying they will be travelling these holidays, up from 33% last year.
“Staycations have been popular for a long time, even before the pandemic,” said Mills. “We found customers preferring to stay at home over Christmas and then travelling to more coastal areas for their year-end holiday.”
And while the most popular main Christmas meal selected were braai items, traditional South African dishes came second and Christmas roasts – be it chicken, turkey, or ham and gammon – in the third spot.
“This is one of our busiest trading periods, and we have planned well to deliver incredible value to our customers at a very difficult time. The food on the table plays an important role in making Christmas exceptional and a celebration which families deserve,” said Mills.