According to Alderman James Vos, the City’s mayoral committee member for economic growth, the development is a response to calls for collaborative partnerships between all sectors – government, business, communities and academia in the form of growth coalitions within Cape Town’s most high-value industries.

“South Africa is facing the effects of resilience-testing challenges such as load shedding, the pandemic, and global conflict. As a result, many people are finding it difficult to make ends meet as companies are forced to pass the rising costs on to the consumer,” said Vos.

He explained that the structured and outcome-driven stakeholder engagements brought about through initiatives like the Food and Beverage Growth Coalition are critical for sharing knowledge, planning and implementing together, ensuring alignment for the realisation of growth opportunities and resolution of challenges.

“The City is committed to eliminating the barriers to doing business, and through this approach, will support its current regulatory reform process,” Vos said.

Economic value of F&B manufacturing

Food and beverages have always been one of the biggest sub-categories within Cape Town’s manufacturing industry, contributing 3.6% of Cape Town’s gross value add and 4.1% of its formal employment.

The industry contributes a substantial portion of the Cape’s export and destination profile. “More importantly, food security is one of our most important concerns as a government and thus we must work closely with businesses to ensure that the industry has the resources to adequately respond to trends and stresses when they happen,” Vos added.

Vos said the City has already held engagements with several business leaders to gain insights into the challenges and innovations within this specific sector and establish a working relationship with businesses.

Courtesy of Bizcommunity – read full article here.