Party Food Prices
Platters, meat, cakes, braai packs, produce and catering — the real 2026 cost of feeding a party, traced back to 2022 with the food backcast model.
Cost of a full party food basket, 2022–2026
The 2026 figure is built from verified live retail prices; earlier years are reverse-engineered with the eight-factor weighted backcast model (inflation, excise, packaging, fuel, electricity, FX, producer list-price and retail margin — weighted differently per category). Every individual product is charted below.
Every product, every retailer
Each chart is one product; each line is a retailer’s verified 2026 price, traced back to 2022 with the Party Food backcast model. Prices are per single unit — per can, bottle, 750ml, pack or kg exactly as named in the product title. Scroll for more, or search by product.
Baking powder — 200g
Baking & Pantry · 4 retailersBrown sugar — 2kg
Baking & Pantry · 3 retailersCocoa powder — 200g
Baking & Pantry · 1 retailerFlour — 2.5kg
Baking & Pantry · 2 retailersIcing sugar — 500g
Baking & Pantry · 5 retailersPasta spaghetti — 500g
Baking & Pantry · 5 retailersRice — 2kg
Baking & Pantry · 4 retailersSugar white — 2.5kg
Baking & Pantry · 4 retailersVanilla essence — 100ml
Baking & Pantry · 5 retailersBiltong sliced — 100g
Biltong & Deli · 3 retailersDroëwors — 100g
Biltong & Deli · 3 retailersLoading products…
Full product index (122 items tracked)
Baking & Pantry
- Baked beans — 410g can
- Baking powder — 200g
- Brown sugar — 2kg
- Cocoa powder — 200g
- Flour — 2.5kg
- Icing sugar — 500g
- Pasta spaghetti — 500g
- Rice — 2kg
- Sugar white — 2.5kg
- Vanilla essence — 100ml
Biltong & Deli
- Biltong sliced — 100g
- Droëwors — 100g
- Salami stick — each
Braai Essentials
- Aluminium foil — 10m roll
- Braai charcoal — 5kg
- Braai wood — per bag
- Briquettes — 4kg
- Crushed ice — per kg
- Firelighters — 24 pack
- Foil trays — 10 pack
Bread & Bakery
- Brown bread — loaf
- Croissants — 4 pack
- Garlic bread — each
- Hamburger buns — 6 pack
- Hot dog rolls — 6 pack
- Koeksisters — 6 pack
- Milk tart — whole
- Pita bread — 4 pack
- White bread — loaf
- Wraps — 6 pack
Cakes & Desserts
- Brownies — 6 pack
- Chocolate cake — whole
- Cupcakes — 12 pack
- Cupcakes — each
- Donuts — 6 pack
- Malva pudding — whole
- Peppermint crisp tart — whole
- Red velvet cake — whole
Cheese & Dairy
- Butter — 500g
- Cheddar cheese — per kg
- Cream cheese — 250g
- Cream — 250ml
- Eggs — 18 pack
- Feta cheese — 200g
- Fresh milk 2L — 2L
- Gouda cheese — per kg
- Long-life milk 1L — 1L
- Margarine — 500g
- Mozzarella cheese — per kg
- Parmesan grated — 200g
- Yoghurt plain — 1kg
Drinks (non-alcohol)
- Appletiser — 750ml
- Bottled water 500ml — 6 pack
- Coke 2L — 2L
- Coke cans — 6 pack
- Cream Soda 2L — 2L
- Fanta 2L — 2L
- Fruit juice 1L — 1L
- Grapetiser — 750ml
- Sparkling water 1L — each
- Sprite 2L — 2L
- Stoney 2L — 2L
Fresh Produce
- Apples — per kg
- Avocados — each
- Baby potatoes — per kg
- Bananas — per kg
- Corn on the cob — 2 pack
- Cucumber — each
- Grapes — per kg
- Lettuce — each
- Mushrooms — 250g
- Onions — per kg
- Peppers mixed — per kg
- Pineapple — each
- Potatoes — per kg
- Strawberries — 250g
- Sweet potatoes — per kg
- Tomatoes — per kg
- Watermelon — each
Frozen & Ready Meals
- Cocktail pies — 12 pack
- Frozen yoghurt 1L — 1L
- Ice cream 2L — 2L tub
- Ice cream cones — 6 pack
- Mini pizzas — 4 pack
- Pizza (family) — each
- Pizza (large) — each
- Samosas frozen — 12 pack
- Sausage rolls — 12 pack
- Spring rolls frozen — 12 pack
Meat & Poultry
- Bacon — per kg
- Beef mince — per kg
- Beef stew — per kg
- Boerewors — per kg
- Braai pack (mixed) — per kg
- Burger patties — 4 pack
- Cheese grillers — pack
- Chicken breasts — per kg
- Chicken drumsticks — per kg
- Chicken nuggets frozen — per kg
- Chicken strips frozen — per kg
- Chicken wings — per kg
- Lamb chops — per kg
- Pork chops — per kg
- Rump steak — per kg
- Sirloin steak — per kg
- Steak (assorted) — per kg
- T-bone steak — per kg
- Whole chicken — per kg
Platters & Catering
- Charcuterie board — serves 10
- Cheese platter — serves 10
- Fruit platter — serves 10
- Hot dog station — serves 20
- Sandwich platter — serves 10
- Wrap platter — serves 10
Sauces & Condiments
- BBQ sauce — 500ml
- Chutney — 470g
- Cooking oil — 2L
- Mustard — 500ml
- Perinaise — 750ml
- Salad dressing — 500ml
- Sunflower oil — 2L
- Tomato sauce — 700ml
Frequently asked questions
Where do the 2026 prices come from?
Every 2026 price is scraped live from South African retailer and hire-house websites — Checkers, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Woolworths, TOPS, and dedicated party or costume suppliers. Multipack listings are normalised to a per-unit price matching the product title.
How are 2022–2025 prices calculated?
Earlier years are reverse-engineered from the verified 2026 anchor using an eight-factor weighted model: headline inflation, excise (alcohol), packaging PPI, fuel/logistics, electricity, USD/ZAR pass-through, producer list-price increases, and retail margin change — with different weights per category.
How much does party food cost in South Africa?
Party food spans platters (R230–R1,500), meat (R45–R285/kg), braai essentials and bakery items. This page tracks representative products across supermarkets with verified 2026 unit prices.
Methodology & sources
Index[2026] = 100
Δ[y] = winflation·rinflation[y] + wexcise·rexcise[y] + wpackaging·rpackaging[y] + wfuel·rfuel[y] + welectricity·relectricity[y] + wfx·rfx[y] + wproducer·rproducer[y] + wretail·rretail[y]
Index[y] = Index[y+1] ÷ (1 + Δ[y+1]) for y = 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
price[y] = price2026 × Index[y] ÷ 100
Where w = category weight (sums to 100%) and r[y] = published YoY rate for that driver in year y.