By Omelele (Omie) Mmbo, FNB: Business Development Head| SME
South Africa’s farm to fork chain is changing fast.
From primary producers to township takeaways and boutique hotels, everyone is dealing with rising input costs, energy insecurity, logistics bottlenecks and customers who are more value-conscious and values-driven than before.
In the same environment, some food and hospitality businesses are managing to grow. They add outlets, supply bigger buyers and turn local stories into national brands. Others, with similar levels of talent and passion, stay where they are.
In my work with entrepreneurs across the value chain, including through Future 50, powered by FNB Business, and the Art of Scale programme delivered with Edge Growth, I have seen that this is not about luck. It comes down to how “scale ready” a business really is.
The new shape of farm to fork in South Africa
The first major shift is around self-sufficiency.
After years of loadshedding, energy security has moved from an optional extra to a basic requirement. Many producers are investing in their own solar, wind and water storage systems. These investments stabilise production, reduce operational risk and give businesses more control over their costs.
The second shift is in logistics.
Transport and port challenges have pushed businesses to work together more closely. We are seeing shared loads; collaborative cold chain solutions and tighter partnerships that keep product moving and protect quality through congested routes. Logistics has become a shared problem that requires shared solutions.
A third change is the way small scale farmers are being brought into formal markets.
Mobile first platforms are helping to aggregate harvests from smaller producers. This makes it easier to achieve the volumes and consistency that major buyers require. The result is a more inclusive and commercially viable route into retail, foodservice and hospitality for smallholder farmers.
Technology is also reshaping how restaurants and food outlets source ingredients.
More buyers are going directly to farmers and producers, often using digital tools and platforms. This supports fresher, higher quality produce and gives operators better oversight of authenticity, especially for culturally rooted and organic foods. It also speaks to a growing cultural emphasis on local and traceable sourcing.
What separates businesses that scale from those that stall
Across more than 100 South African businesses in Future 50, the pattern is very consistent. The ones that scale share a few habits.
They build solid systems.
The founder is central, but the business does not depend on them for every decision. Core processes are defined. Roles are clear. Operations can continue even if the owner is not on site. If most of the know-how still sits in one person’s head, the business is not scale ready.
They know their numbers.
They understand their costs, margins and the real impact of opening a second site or serving more customers. They use data to guide choices on pricing, staffing and investment. Decisions are based on facts, not on instinct alone.
They move from “just the product” to the full picture.
Many food and hospitality businesses begin with a strong focus on the plate, the menu or the craft. The businesses that grow learn to also think about supply chains, brand positioning, people, customer experience and long-term strategy. The quality of the product remains important, but it is no longer the only priority.
Where founders misjudge risk
Through the Art of Scale programme, we often see business owners underestimate what growth really demands.
One common issue is over optimistic forecasting.
Projections for future performance are sometimes built on assumptions that are not sufficiently tested. Owners underestimate how overheads increase as the business expands. Each new site, vehicle, management layer and process adds cost. Over time, this can place significant pressure on margins.
Another is underestimating competitive pressure.
As a business grows, it becomes more visible. This attracts new entrants and intensifies competition. Differentiation erodes faster than many founders expect, and the temptation is to reduce prices to hold on to customers. This gradual squeeze on margins is one of the most overlooked risks in scaling.
A third area is the complexity that comes with scale.
More people, locations and processes increase the management load. The organisation needs stronger structures in finance, HR and technology. Without that additional capacity, the day-to-day complexity of a larger business can overwhelm its leadership.
I use the term “scalability debt” to describe the infrastructure, systems and capacity that a business will need as it grows, but has not yet invested in. If you do not identify these requirements early and start addressing them, this scalability debt becomes a constraint that slows or even stops your scale up journey.
The non negotiables before you scale
Before a business considers expansion, whether through new outlets, new equipment or deeper integration into the value chain, a few elements should be in place.
- A clear view of current and future competitive pressure, including how rivals are likely to respond as you grow.
- An honest assessment of scalability debt across infrastructure, fleet, people, management layers, systems and working capital.
- A basic operating model that is documented and repeatable, and not dependent on the founder being involved in every detail.
- A realistic understanding of how margins behave at higher volumes, rather than assuming that current performance will simply scale.
Scaling is not the result of a single opportunity. It is the outcome of deliberate and disciplined preparation.
The weekly numbers that show whether you are growing smarter
In South African hospitality, focusing on revenue alone is not enough. To grow smarter, rather than just bigger, businesses need to stay close to a small set of key indicators each week.
Back of house profitability
Prime costs, specifically labour and cost of goods sold, tell the real story of performance. Tracking these weekly helps identify waste in the kitchen, menu items that dilute margins and staffing patterns that do not match demand. When you understand where losses occur, you can correct them more quickly.
Low traffic periods
Every operator can point to quiet periods in the trading week. The critical question is how you respond to them. Targeted loyalty rewards, limited time offers or focused “power hour” promotions can help turn quiet times into incremental revenue instead of accepting them as sunk cost.
Front of house profitability
The cost of acquiring a new customer is significantly higher than retaining an existing one. It is important to monitor how often loyal customers return and whether their average spend is growing. A decline in return visits is usually one of the earliest signs that the service experience requires attention.
Customer sentiment
Digital tools, including AI driven platforms, make it easier to track how customers talk about your business online. Sentiment trends offer real time feedback, highlight issues that may be invisible from inside the operation and help amplify positive referrals that attract new guests.
What an inclusive farm to fork model could look like
An inclusive model for farm to fork growth in South Africa would include several structural shifts.
- Community anchored Agri hubs that aggregate supply, create scale and open reliable off take opportunities for businesses of all sizes in local communities.
- A food safety and compliance framework that is tiered and recognises different production realities, so that small vendors using nonindustrial methods are not excluded by standards designed only for large factories.
- Shared agricultural infrastructure that provides access to equipment, storage and processing capacity which smaller producers cannot afford on their own.
- Enabling tools for informal and micro players, such as micro licensing options, digital credit trails and platforms that make it easier to source and showcase indigenous ingredients. These support economic participation and protect South Africa’s culinary heritage at the same time.
In such a system, a township food business, a rural farmer and an urban hotel can all participate in growth on terms that are realistic for them.
The doors that are currently open
South Africa’s hospitality ecosystem is opening in encouraging ways for small and medium enterprises. Large buyers are actively looking for reliable local supply. Sustainability is being used to reduce operating risk, not only as a corporate reporting requirement. Direct sourcing from producers is growing, because it improves quality, provenance and trust.
The question is less about whether opportunity exists, and more about whether businesses will be ready to take advantage of it.
This is where Hostex matters. It is a concentrated moment in the year when the entire farm to fork chain comes together under one roof. If you are a founder, do not treat it as a passive show. Walk the floor with intention. Ask every potential partner one simple thing: how will this help us become more scale ready, strengthen our systems or improve the numbers that really matter?
To take advantage of the doors that are already open, operators need to be prepared.
- Know your numbers and refine your processes so you can deliver consistently and profitably at higher volumes.
- Use working capital and supply chain finance carefully so that you can fulfil larger orders without placing unsustainable strain on the business.
- Adopt simple traceability tools that give buyers confidence in your product and production standards.
- Plug into curated marketplaces and sourcing platforms that connect growing SMEs to enterprise level demand.
As Hostex focuses on opening doors across the food, beverage and hospitality ecosystem, my message to founders is straightforward. Use this opportunity to look for the partners, tools and ideas that will help you scale. You do not have to be large to start thinking like a scale up business, but you do need to prepare for scale long before the next opportunity arrives.
ABOUT OMIE MMBO, FNB: HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT | SME
Omie has over 14 years’ experience within the bank, having joined FNB in 2011 where he started out as an Accounting Support Specialist for the Instant Solutions products, before moving to Merchant Services where he has been since 2013.
In his time in Merchant Services, he has gained a lot of exposure to the specialised Acquiring environment within the Payments space. He spent time as a Corporate Relationship Manager looking after the acquiring side of corporate clients. He soon after, headed up the Enterprise portfolio nationally for Merchant services, before changing hats to take up the responsibility of Growth Manager where he carried both the responsibilities of Regional Manager as well as National Sales Optimization manager. He was then later appointed as the Executive of Growth, with a specific focus on the SME and Fuel Sector strategy for Merchant Services.
He is now in a strategic role as a Business Development Head for the Platinum sub-segment within the SME space, where he now carries the responsibility of solutioning for an SME business’ holistic needs.
