Long after the music has faded and the revellers have left, the brand equity of nine small businesses has been greatly enhanced following an opportunity they were afforded by Proudly South African to exhibit their wares to thousands of festival-goes at the annual DStv Delicious International Food & Music Festival Powered by LottoStar.  

These businesses, which operate in the fashion, gaming, and lifestyle sectors, are members of Proudly South African and were required to pitch and motivate why they should be granted the opportunity to participate in this event. The opportunity to exhibit at this musical extravaganza is part of the value proposition of being a member of Proudly South African, and it aligns with market access opportunities the organisation provides to its members. 

The member companies that took part in the exhibitions were: Shesha 3.2.1, Ethereal Candles, Tjiane Creations, RE-L8, Nomakade, Modern Mbadada, Ntozinhle Lifestyle, Imprint and Ditsala. 

Happy MaKhumalo Ngidi, Chief Marketing Officer at Proudly South African, says her organisation is leveraging the partnerships it has built in the market and the popular sponsorship properties that reaffirm support for local industries to create market access opportunities for its members. 

We are delighted with the warm reception that the revellers showed to our members and the growing affinity that South Africans are showing for locally made products. Such initiatives go a long way to help our members build brand awareness, which is an important component that ensures sales, as people are more likely to buy from a brand that they are familiar with.  

In addition, it also helps to build and reinforce the perceived value of these brands by linking them with positive attributes such as ‘quality’, ‘uniqueness’, ‘premium’, and enables these businesses to foster brand loyalty and build relationships with clients beyond their geographical confines,” says Ngidi. 

As a testament to the growing popularity of these local brands, the Proudly South African Local Playground became a beehive of activity as patrons interacted and immersed themselves in lifestyle treats and tried on trendy sneakers and fashion from the exhibitors.  

“DStv Delicious International Food & Music Festival Powered by LottoStar provides us with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase our talent to a captive audience that would ordinarily not have known about our products. In addition to the massive sales we generate, we also get an opportunity to build a lasting base of loyal fans from across the country, which ensures our long-term sustainability long after the event has ended,” says Themba William Radebe, founder of Modern Mbadada. 

Mzukisi Mbane of Imprint concurs: “The brand exposure and advertising that comes with participating in this event is equal to none. In just two days, your brand not only receives the amount of exposure that is worth hundreds of millions of rands in advertising, but you also get to interact with your existing and prospective clients in a more intimate and meaningful way,” he says. 

Citing the findings of the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, Ngidi says constrained and limited access to markets for small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMMEs) remains one of the key barriers to South Africa’s attempts at growing the small enterprise sector.  

“Through the partnerships we have with DStv Delicious International Food and Music team, we hope that in a small way we can make a noticeable difference in the lives of this important segment of the economy by opening up avenues of growth and prosperity,” Ngidi concludes. 

The 2025 edition of the DStv Delicious International Food & Music Festival Powered by LottoStar was hosted at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in the north of Johannesburg on 20 and 21 September.