Checkers pulls one of its own food products from its shelves in South Africa
Checkers has reportedly pulled one of its own-brand Ready to Braai Smokey Stuffed Chicken Breast packs after customers complained that the pack contained more sauce than chicken.
A frustrated customer took to social media on 20 February to share their experience after ordering a Ready to Braai Smokey Stuffed Chicken Breast pack through the Checkers Sixty60 delivery service.
According to the customer, it was immediately clear when opening the pack that something was wrong.
They claimed the container appeared to contain more sweet barbecue sauce than chicken breast, despite the packaging suggesting otherwise.
To test their suspicion, the customer separated the chicken from the sauce and weighed each component individually.
The results showed that the pack contained 246 grams of chicken—including the stuffing—amounting to 49% of the total weight. The sauce, however, weighed 264 grams.
This appeared to contradict the product’s packaging, which stated in fine print that it contains 62% chicken breast.
In the social media post, the customer also suggested that the issue might not only be misleading but potentially unlawful under South African food labelling regulations.
“I think it might also be illegal for you to not stipulate that more than 50% of the stated weight is liquid marinade,” the customer wrote.
The concern relates to South Africa’s Quantitative Ingredient Declaration (QUID) rules, which require certain ingredients to be clearly disclosed on product labels.
QUID forms part of Regulation 26 of the Regulations Relating to the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs (R146).
These rules are designed to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions by showing the percentage of key ingredients used in a product.
Under these regulations, the percentage of an ingredient must be declared when it is emphasised in the name of the product—such as “chicken” in a chicken-based meal—or highlighted through imagery or marketing on the packaging.
Corrective measures are being taken
The declared percentage must reflect the ingredient’s weight at the time of manufacture relative to the total weight of all ingredients used.
The regulations also set specific rounding rules, requiring figures to be rounded to the nearest 1%, or to the nearest 0.5% if the ingredient content is below 5%.
Following the online complaint, the retailer’s parent company, Shoprite Holdings, confirmed that the smokey chicken product had been withdrawn from sale.
According to a report by News24, Shoprite said its supplier conducted an internal investigation, which identified a production processing error at the manufacturing facility.
The company added that corrective measures have since been implemented to strengthen quality control processes and prevent a repeat of the problem.
Shoprite also said it is working on improving transparency for online shoppers by making full ingredient lists available for all private-label products sold online.
Despite the controversy surrounding the chicken product, the retailer’s broader performance has remained strong.
Shoprite reported that merchandise sales from continuing operations increased by 7.2% to about R136.8 billion for the six months ending 31 December 2025—an increase of roughly R9.2 billion compared to the same period a year earlier.
Sales at Shoprite and Usave stores grew by 5.1%, while Checkers and Checkers Hyper recorded stronger growth of 8.9%.
The Sixty60 delivery platform continued to expand rapidly, with sales jumping 34.6% to R11.9 billion over the six months, and the service is now available from 875 stores across South Africa.
BusinessTech has reached out to Shoprite for an update on the incident and will add its response once we have received it.
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