{"id":872605,"date":"2026-08-30T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=872605"},"modified":"2026-08-28T16:35:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T14:35:49","slug":"bad-news-for-anyone-buying-certain-peanut-butter-off-the-shelf-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/872605\/bad-news-for-anyone-buying-certain-peanut-butter-off-the-shelf-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad news for anyone buying certain peanut butter off the shelf in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African consumers buying peanut butter from supermarket shelves could see some imported products become more expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) increased the import duty on peanut butter to 20%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in an interview with CapeTalk<\/a>, the SA Groundnut Forum said the change does not mean consumers will automatically pay 20% more for every jar of peanut butter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chair Adri Botha said the duty applies specifically to imported peanut butter, while products entering South Africa under certain preferential trade agreements may still qualify for duty-free access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Botha, the main purpose of the tariff increase is to address what the industry considers an anomaly in the existing tariff structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When local groundnut supplies are insufficient, manufacturers importing raw peanuts have to pay a 10% duty on those products to continue manufacturing locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imported finished peanut butter had been entering the country at little or no duty, creating a situation where imported finished products could have an advantage over locally manufactured peanut butter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that the issue had not previously received much attention because South Africa had not historically imported significant quantities of finished peanut butter. This changed in recent years as imports increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cImports increased by 81%,\u201d Botha said, although she stressed that the actual tonnage remains relatively small compared with the domestic market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most peanut butter consumed in South Africa is still manufactured locally, with the industry producing around 30,000 metric tons a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly half of South Africa’s domestic groundnut production is used to make peanut butter. \u201cMost peanut butter we consume here is still locally manufactured,\u201d Botha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, imported products have become a growing concern for local producers, particularly as India has emerged as the dominant source of imported peanut butter into South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botha said India’s enormous scale as the world’s second-largest groundnut producer makes it difficult for South African producers to compete directly on costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tariff should not impact locally produced peanut butter prices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Local groundnut supply can also fluctuate, creating opportunities for companies to import finished peanut butter rather than manufacture the product domestically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botha said the tariff is intended to create a more level playing field, but argued that protecting local production requires more than simply making imports more expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also rejected the idea that the higher tariff should automatically result in higher prices for locally produced peanut butter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tariff in itself should not increase locally produced peanut butter,\u201d she said. \u201cThere’s no reason for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botha said ITAC had indicated it would monitor the tariff’s impact, while consumers could see some movement in the prices of imported peanut butter as suppliers adjust to the new duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in the longer term, she said the best way to protect consumers and the domestic industry from international prices and currency fluctuations is to strengthen South Africa’s own groundnut production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA sustainable local industry is our best long-term protection against these international prices and exchange-rate volatility,\u201d Botha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That would require farmers to produce a larger and more consistent crop, supported by predictable demand and sustainable returns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African consumers buying peanut butter from supermarket shelves could see some imported products become more expensive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":850400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2093972252651860106","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2190792968407769","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[853,24640,26333],"class_list":["post-872605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-south-africa","tag-the-international-trade-administration-commission-itac","tag-the-sa-groundnut-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872605"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872674,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872605\/revisions\/872674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}