Introducing Trade & Taste!
Welcome to Trade & Taste – your one-stop guide to South Africa’ s hospitality and food & beverage industry.
While Covid-19 brought the sector to its knees, five years on it has staged a powerful recovery. That said, some areas are still finding their feet, with staffing being one of the biggest challenges. We lost an entire generation of students who might otherwise have chosen careers in hospitality. But, as our industry experts reveal, the solution isn’ t simply recruitment – it’ s also about upskilling from within.
So let’ s dive into what you can expect from our inaugural edition.
FEDHASA Cape’ s Lee-Anne Singer breaks down 2025 and what the year ahead has in store, while we catch up with four chefs shaping the future of dining to hear how 2026 is already unfolding.
We then turn our attention to food and cocktail trends, and they prove that more is definitely more, at least in the F & B sector, in 2026. South Africa’ s chefs are rewriting menus, with indigenous ingredients taking centre stage. We explore the art of dinner and a show, and South Africa’ s leading sommeliers share the bottles that defined 2025, and the ones that are worth cellaring.
Sustainability is firmly in focus as we unpack how being planet-friendly is also good for your bottom line, spotlighting the companies getting it right. We also dig into why chocolate is so expensive, and what businesses can do to keep customers happy despite rising costs.
There’ s no escaping AI, and we explore how companies can embrace the robots while still maintaining that all-important human touch. Plus, we head into the kitchen to look at why uniforms matter, and meet the men and women proving that hospitality is often a gateway to bigger and better things.
We also look into how culinary tourism is reshaping South Africa’ s economy, the balancing act of dynamic pricing, and loads more!
So – welcome to Trade & Taste. We’ re glad you’ re here.
Charis Torrance
Editor Trade & Taste Magazine
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2 TRADE & TASTE / 2026