While many 'banters' are losing their excess kilogrammes, others are gaining from the expanding opportunity for low-carb and banting products in the consumer retail market. Banting has given rise to new products developed specifically for this lifestyle. Many retailers, like Spar, have included special banting sections within their stores to cater for those customers, showcasing low-carb bread pre-mixes, coconut oil and sugar-free sweeteners like xylitol and stevia. Woolworths has also been quick to include some essential food items for 'low carbers', including cauliflower rice, baby marrow spaghetti and their new range of pre-made meals, Carbclever.
Banting markets have also sprung up all over the country including the Pretoria Banting Market, Kloof Banting Market in Durban and The Revolution Food Fair in Cape Town. The popularity of these markets has seen them adding to their list of vendors of baked goods, fresh produce and meat products. Business has also been good for some dieticians who are now specialising in LCHF (low carb high fat) diets.
It is a natural progression that two of the fastest growing South African trends, banting and e-commerce, should merge, with online retailers focusing on low-carb products.
Terez Rijkenberg - from Durban and owner of Low Carb Love - has been practising a low-carb lifestyle for over seven years. "Even though I have been passionate about living a low-carb life for so long, the popularity of banting has allowed me to explore this passion further by launching an e-commerce site aimed wholly at low-carb products. I don't believe it would have been possible without this endorsement from someone as influential as Professor Noakes and the popularity it has gained," she said.
The market of banters in South Africa remains unknown at this stage, but the awareness of this lifestyle has hit even small towns within South Africa. "Sixty percent of my online customers so far are situated in outlying areas, like Hoedspruit and Wolmaransstad. Some of those customers have even signed up to be mini-distributors for their communities because of the lack of access to these kinds of products," said Rijkenberg.
Banting still has its critics and a long way to go to completely change the landscape of consumer products in our country. Perhaps Noakes is correct when he said: "This is the new medicine, which is going to take 30 years to be accepted."
It remains to be seen whether this banting trend is just a trend or a lasting and fruitful market for entrepreneurs, but in the meantime, it seems South Africans all over the country are not deterred and are going to make proverbial LCHF hay while the sun shines.
You can buy The Real Meal Revolution and other low-carb and banting products at www.lowcarblove.co.za.
